The St Vincent De Paul Society in the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Upper East Region, on Saturday, presented food items and used clothing to the leadership of the Diocese for onwards distribution to the poor in the Region.

The Society is a voluntary organization of laypeople whose main objective is to support the poor, needy and vulnerable in societies through charity work.

The items included 100 bags of maize, 20 bags of groundnuts, 15 bags of beans, five bags of salt, a bag of herrings popularly known as ‘Keta school boys’ all valued at about GHC 20,000.00, and 15 bags of slightly used clothing.

Mr Francis Azande Ayaaba, the Diocesan President of the Saint Vincent De Paul Society, who presented the items to the Church at Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, said the gesture was a practical demonstration of love extended to the poor, needy and vulnerable who were often forgotten.

He said the Society deemed it necessary to support those categories of people in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and reiterated that the move was a real practical demonstration of evangelization which was the real purpose of the Saint Vincent De Paul Society in the Church.

“Our support permeates through all societies irrespective of religious, political, ethnic or cultural believes”, he added.

Mr Ayaaba said the gesture by the Society was in response to an appeal by the Most Reverend Bishop Alfred Agyenta, Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, to support poor, needy and vulnerable people.

He said the donation was a second response to the Bishop’s appeal, and recalled that last year, the St Vincent De Paul Society presented GHC 10,000.00 to the Church to support last year’s flood victims in some parts of the Diocese.

Mr Ayaaba, who is also the Upper East Regional Youth Coordinator of the 39 Junior Knights and Ladies of Marshall, acknowledged the support of parishioners, patrons and individuals outside the Diocese and country, which had over the years enabled them to reach out to several needy people across the Region and beyond.

In line with the donation, the Navro Pio, Pe Dennis Aneakwoa Belinia Adda, the Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional area who graced the brief occasion, also presented an amount of GHC 500.00 to the Diocese to support its charity work.

Receiving the items for onward distribution to the needy, Bishop Agyenta expressed gratitude to the St Vincent De Paul Society and the Chief for their support.

He said since the appeal was made about two months ago, the Church had received a positive response within the Dioceses and outside the country, to reach out to the poor, “What we are witnessing is how the Church within itself can mobilize.”

Bishop Agyenta said members of the St Vincent De Paul Society were volunteering to be able to offer their time, talents and resources to help the needy, “The aim of the Society is not to wait for things to come from outside. Most often, members use their own little resources to help because there is a spirituality about that.”