By Lisa Hamilton

THE Raising and Extending Arms to Care and Help (REACH) Foundation was officially launched at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) on Sunday with the aim of renewing efforts to help the homeless.

The REACH Foundation was founded by Nicholas Chesney, who serves as its president. He got the idea to form the organisation during his school days.
Chesney developed the idea when he observed that on the weekends, excess meals from the school’s cafeteria would be discarded by students who were not in dire need of the food.

Seeing this, he began to ask students to take part in an act, which was later dubbed “Give up your lunch” in order to help the less fortunate.
“I decided to ask a few students if they would give up their lunch on Sundays so that we can take the food and give it to homeless persons in the City,” Chesney said, pointing out that “Most of us would buy food on weekends, so there was always extra food in the cafeteria.”

Initially, the small group was able to feed quite a number of the homeless on the streets of Georgetown, but after the students graduated, Chesney noted that there was a period of inactivity.
“There was a long pause after graduation, but it was always a dream of every member to reach out to help others,” he said, adding: “We can’t remember the exact day we restarted, but all of a sudden we were back on the road feeding the homeless.”
Now, over two years later, many of those involved in the good gesture have graduated but continue to pool their resources to feed approximately 50 homeless individuals every Sunday at areas such as Fogarty’s Department Store.
Some of these students returned today to their alma mater to officially launch the foundation.

Delivering the main remarks, Pastor Patrick Findlay, said it was pleasing to see a young man like Chesney taking the lead in giving back to the community.
“In the world in which we live today, you don’t find that today. Everybody is trying to fend for themselves… I am absolutely proud of Nicholas Chesney and the team that he is working with,” Findlay said.
The foundation, he said, has its challenges.

“A lot of persons like the idea, but when they see how hard the work is, some people back out. I find that if there is a gap between activities the drive tends to go down, so we just want to keep the drive and the momentum going. So even if it’s donating one hamper a month, that’s good enough, as long as we keep doing something,” Chesney told Guyana Chronicle.
REACH plans to have their own building, obtain their own private transportation and develop a refuge shelter for the homeless and those affected by domestic issues.
There are currently 43 members of the organisation and some of them on Sunday received membership certificates, while nine individuals received Certificates of Appreciation for their support throughout the years.

Chesney encourages the public to assist the less fortunate in any way they can, keeping in mind that it is not as expensive as some would assume.
“It doesn’t cost a lot of money to help persons… even if you don’t have money but you have a meal, you can give it up and we would take that and give it to somebody, because a lot of persons [living on the streets] are hungry,” the young man said.
REACH invites interested individuals to donate or join on to their cause by contacting the foundation at its email address: reachguyana@gmail.com