This is known as the season of sharing and caring, and as part of the charitable initiatives that take place at this time of year, philanthropist and well-known grassroots advocate Joel “Dara” Robinson, who spearheads his own feeding program in the King’s Park area of Belize City, has teamed up with telecommunications giant Belize Telemedia Limited (Digicell) to spread the Christmas cheer to those who are less fortunate in and around the city of Belize.
Digicell, whose representatives said that they wanted to make Christmas brighter for some 20 deserving families, donated twenty food hampers to needy families this afternoon at the BTL Grand Conference Room on Church Street. Each hamper included all the main ingredients necessary to prepare a traditional Christmas dinner, including a turkey, a ham, rice, beans, and a tin of cranberries along with a $20 Digicell phone card.
The recipients were chosen by Dara. While expressing his gratefulness for having been asked to be a part of the gesture, Dara explained how he chose the 20 families who, he maintained, greatly appreciated the gifts.
He first thanked the “Creator”, and then expressed gratitude to Digicell for giving him the opportunity to provide the families with the much-needed contribution. Robinson, who said that he was very excited when he was called to recommend the families, told the audience that he was ready to take on the challenge. He said, “I could have made it easy and just picked 20 families from the feeding program which I manage, but I went around the entire city and chose people from every neighborhood in which I know people are struggling, and I picked a family who really needs. It was so much [people in need] that I had to drop by, leave the message, and come back because whenever people see me around, they know that I am either bringing something or trying to help somebody.”
He admitted that although there might be some people who might feel left out because they were not a part of the group that was selected, there’s only so much he can do by himself. He stated that Christmas is a time of giving, and he always tries his best to help all who really need help.
Nevertheless, Dara said that he is happy for all the people that got the hampers. He said, “I do it from my heart and that’s how I live my life. I could have gone into one area and picked 15 families, but what I was really looking for was the grandmothers and single mothers who were facing burden, and I thought of the children and the fact that it takes a whole village to help raise a child, as they say.”
During the distribution ceremony, Thalia Myvette – who was part of the team of Telemedia staff members that worked on the initiative – commended the achievements of “Dara” Robinson. She mentioned that she could relate to the families’ struggles since she also came from a single parent home and therefore encouraged the recipients to “hang in there and stay positive because at the end, it could only get better.”
Robinson said that he hopes that for this Christmas, people will reach out and help other people that are in need; and urged families to come together and purchase a box of groceries, for example, and give it to someone who might not otherwise be able to afford those items. Dara said, “The greatest gift that you could give at Christmas time is food.”
He said that he plans to take a “slight break” from what he does at the beginning of next year in order to get some rest because he is constantly on the go every day trying to make a difference in people’s lives, and it has taken a toll on his well being.