More than 1500 students of the University of the South Pacific who have been affected by COVID-19 have been given food packs through the Good Neighbour Initiative which has been established by the USP Students Association.
Administration and Research Officer, Aneet Kumar says they are planning to give out these food packs to at least 60% of the students in all Fiji campuses.
He says once they have finished their quota and have satisfied their students, they are aiming to reach out to those communities who have also been affected and help them by giving out the remaining food packs.
The food packs consist of oil, sugar, rice, garlic, potatoes, canned food and other basic food items. The students association has also been helping private students who have been affected by COVID-19 with their tuition fees.
Part of the Good Neighbour Initiative is a stationary drive that is projected to kick start before the end of this month, where the students association will compile basic stationery items that students need at the university with the money and budget of other branches of the students association.
The students will need to register themselves at their respective branch offices if they wish to receive this assistance.
Kumar says that once the stationery drive is closed off and the registered students have received the stationery items, they will reach out to secondary and primary schools in the rural areas and donate the remainder of the stationery items to them.
Kumar says the association has redirected close to $100,000 that was allocated for the events and projects of the students association which were cancelled due to the restrictions we currently have in place, to fund this initiative.
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