Camp donates to HIV/AIDS Food Bank

The Barbados Defence Force: Camp Energy, made a food donation to the HIV/AIDS Food Bank Wednesday afternoon.

During the handing over ceremony that took place at the HIV/AIDS Food Bank, Harriet Clarke, the Force Welfare Officer at the Barbados Defence Force told the media that this year, Camp Energy they wanted to incorporate a service aspect to camp.

“Each year the camp tries to do a service element; so we’re here to make a donation to the food bank,” she said.

Clarke noted that with the theme of camp being “A Day in the Life of...” they looked at different professions that they wanted to expose the children to so that they get a taste of what career options that may be out there as they grow and develop. She explained that the children got a chance to see what the community nutrition officer and Manager of HIV/AIDS Food Bank, Stacia Whittaker, did on a daily basis. She added that the children also got a chance to assist Whittaker in distributing the items in the pantry.

Clarke said that the children, who were extremely willing to help out, donated the items. To ensure that the children donated items that the food bank needed, she said that they got a list from Whittaker and then got the children to get help from their parents to donate the items.

The welfare officer went on to note that the children also got an education session on HIV/AIDS because she believed the information was valuable.

“We know that in the Caribbean, the age of sexual activity is a bit young, under ten, and this group being between the ages of 10 and 14, they have definitely been exposed to the information,” she said.

She believed that in order for the children to make the right choices, they must first have the correct information.

“So any information that exposes them to thinking about a decision and then making a decision that would not put them in harms way or cause them to contribute to harm to anyone else, we believe is important,” she said.