Golf club donates food to caddies

By PARKER TAMBUA
THE Royal Port Moresby Golf Club and its members yesterday donated K50,000 worth of food to their caddies as relief during the State of Emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.
Club committee member Ian Hodge told The National that the recipients depended on caddying to sustain themselves and their families in the city.
Hodge said with Covid-19, the caddies — who live in nearby settlements in Morata and Erima —were no longer working.
“We have raised more than K50,000 to help 173 caddies and their families who have been affected by the lockdown due to Covid-19,” he said.
“With the initiative, we would like to support them in their time of need. It is important to show kindness in such times.
“This is the first one. There’s more support coming in so we will do a second one in two weeks’ time.
“We don’t want to give out cash because they might spend it on non-essential things.
“We are helping them with food because it helps their families sustain themselves during this difficult period.
“There is nothing worse than seeing people suffer and we must support each other.”
Benny Mine, the caddies’ spokesman, thanked Hodge and the club for their support.
“Most of us depend on this (caddying) to sustain ourselves but now, Covid-19 has affected us,” he said.
“It’s difficult to afford food and this will keep us going for the next couple of weeks.”