Monrovia – Mr. Richelieu B. Harris, Jr. has honored the memory of his late brother, Mr. Lorenzo Harris, by his family giving out 40 bags of 25-kg rice and 40 bottles of argo oil to equal number of older folks in the Gardnesville’s Shoes Factory Community where he grew up before traveling to the USA.
Mr. Harris, who resides in San Diego California, also told this newspaper though he was honoring his late brother’s memory, he did the donation to also identify with the elderly during this challenging Covid-19 period. His relatives and his wife presented the items to the beneficiaries on Tuesday, June 2.
“During this pandemic, old people are one of the most vulnerable groups in the society,” Mr. Harris, who resided in the Shoes Factory Community during childhood, stated. He added: “The economic hardship is experienced mostly by older folks, who are no longer part of the working class.”
Mr. Harris’ late brother, Lorenzo, was a pilot and a flight instructor at the California Flight Academy. According to Harris, his brother died in a plane crash on September 7, 2019.
“As a flight instructor, Lorenzo trained a number of pilots who have always rated and lauded his high level of professionalism. Lorenzo served 20 years in the US Navy before honorably been retired,” he said of his brother.
“Lorenzo was born on April 1, 1971 in Monrovia, to Mr. Richelieu B. Harris Sr. and Mrs. Malia E. Harris. Lorenzo was a person with deep love for humanity and passion to help people in need of assistance.
“He showed humility to everyone he interacted with. If Lorenzo were alive today, he would have provided assistance to people in Shoes Factory during this Covid 19 pandemic,” Richelieu stated.
He disclosed that Mrs. Eliza Harris Johnson, the late man’s younger sister, who resides in England will later this year launch the Lorenzo Harris Humanitarian and Educational Foundation. “This foundation will provide food assistance to the elderly and scholarships for less privileged children in Liberia,” Richelieu added.
At the distribution site of the rice, the older folks rained praises on Richelieu for thinking about them during this Covid-19. They include Mrs. Matilda Kpaan, Oldman Francis Nmah and Ms. Rose Dargbeh. All in separate remarks, prayed for more of God’s blessing on the donor, his family and down to his children’s children. Mr. Nmah specifically stated that Richelieu has always thought about them during difficult moments.
One beneficiary, a blind man, Alexander Toseedell, as he thanked Richelieu, he asked him to extend his gesture to less-fortunate people in other parts of Liberia. Toseedell narrated how the late Lorenzo had sent him the white cane that he presently uses. “Uncle Lorenzo came to Liberia some time ago and I told him that I needed one cane. When he went back to the States, he sent this cane for me,” Toseedell said.