Late on Sunday, May 5, 2024, a fire devastated a dozen homes in the densely populated Wellington Street neighbourhood in the heart of Bridgetown, Barbados. According to press reports, 13 families, comprising 30 adults and 15 children were displaced, as their homes were either destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

The Ministry of People Empowerment’s new Resilience and Reintegration Unit immediately provided emergency shelter for the fire victims. However, many of them were left destitute, with literally only the clothes on their backs, while others were able to salvage a few items before fleeing the blaze.

The St. Ambrose Anglican Church (also located on Wellington Street) quickly stepped up to organize donations to assist the victims, and working through them, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints handed over non-perishable food items, toiletries, shoes, toys, backpacks for children and stationery. These were collected from the three Church branches, Black Rock, Oistins and Christ Church, and were handed over to staff from St. Ambrose on Friday, May 31.

In addition, clothing items were donated to the Salvation Army, since there were more donated pieces of clothing than the fire victims needed. This donation further strengthened the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Salvation Army, as there is a history of these organizations working together to assist the needy. “Service to our fellow man” is a basic tenet of both entities, as they aim to help the less fortunate among us, as we are all God’s children.