A new ally has joined Soroptimist International of Barbados’ (SIB) initiative to put food on the tables of women and families who have been struggling due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The women’s service club today announced a philanthropic partnership with digital advertising company Screen Display Network, which will carry promotions for the service club’s recently launched COVID-19 food bank.
“This is an opportunity to get our campaign in front of so many more people and thus be able to help so many more people,” said club President Krystle Maynard, as she welcomed the partnership.
Managing Director of Screenplay Shane Lewis expressed their pleasure at supporting the campaign, noting that it will run on screens in locations where people are already doing their shopping – in supermarkets and gas stations.
“Our big hope is that this will add to the impact of the campaign. People will be able to see the ads for the food bank while they are doing their shopping and be best placed to add another few items to their shopping cart to help families in need,” said Lewis.
The launch comes as the world closes out the annual observance of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. This year, activists and advocates have focused on the “shadow pandemic” of domestic violence, caused in part by shrinking economic options for women whose employment has been harder hit overall by COVID-19 restrictions.
Maynard alluded to this, noting that SIB had been fielding increased calls for assistance since the pandemic began to negatively affect businesses and employment in late March, saying: “To be honest, not a week goes by without us getting calls or messages from people, mostly women with small children, asking for our help.
“We’ve been doing as much as we can out of our club resources and in partnership with the National Organisation of Women (NOW) President Marsha Hinds-Layne, but we’ve also had to be cautious because our fundraising was put on pause this year.
“There’s a lot of desperation out there which has even driven some women back to abusive relationships just to be able to get by. This initiative is seeking to ease some of that burden,” said Maynard.
The club’s COVID-19 food bank is open for donations at the Soroptimist Village in Eden Lodge on Mondays and Fridays between noon and 3 p.m. (PR)
