Fire Service Partners with DCFS to Feed East End Seniors

Sixty East End seniors recently enjoyed a Caribbean style breakfast prepared by the Cayman Islands Fire Service (CIFS).

Community Development Officer for East End Delmira Kirchman-Bodden, of the Department of Children and Family Services had approached CIFS to request the one-off event, the menu for which featured fried breadfruit, scrambled eggs, fried plantain, fritters and ackee and codfish.

Ms Kirchman-Bodden’s objective is to work with community organisations to offer an ongoing service to older persons in the district.

“My daughter and I started this out of our kitchen at first but quickly realised we needed to expand. The fire service is the second organisation that we’ve worked with and I have to say they did an excellent job from cooking the meals to delivering them to the seniors, whom they also took the time to interact with”, she commented.

She added, “The seniors were so happy that they were able to have a “breakfast and chat” with the fire service, that CIFS has become a household name in East End”.

A food-safety trained team from the Fire Service regularly partners with Meals on Wheels to prepare around 50 meals for seniors every month. Two additional officers joined the group for the East End initiative. CIFS used the commercial kitchen at the East End Civic Centre to prepare the food.

In addition to Ms Bodden, event sponsors included Randy Merren, Tony Powell, Delmira Bodden, Douglas Rankine and Janice Welcome.

Home Affairs Minister Bernie Bush said it was heartening to see Government Departments working together with members of the community to improve the lives of older persons.

"If the Cayman Islands is to successfully move forward in the post-COVID world in a sustainable way, it will require many more moments like this one, where multiple agencies come together to support and serve the community, in particular those who are most vulnerable."