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When Kerene Smith-White lost her husband to dengue in March, her world shattered. It became even harder for her to pick up the pieces when she lost her house in Spring Grove, Manchester, in April.

Since then, she has been seeking help, and former Manchester Festival Queen Crystal Scale and a charity organisation, AXM, stepped in to help.

After the family was given clothes and food by different individuals and organisations, Scale said she had a light-bulb moment, where she wanted to do more for the family.

As such, she said that she spoke with them and they devised a way that Smith-White could start her own business, which would be able to sustain her after the donated supplies run out.

"Based on our conversation, I knew that she would have done chicken rearing already, and she had a coop, so we thought that we could add chicken rearing as an option again for her to sustain herself and her family after," she said.

An elated Smith-White said she is grateful for the help and she is looking forward to building her business.

She said that after the loss of her husband and house, she felt hopeless, as she had her children to send to school.

But with this new ray of hope, she is going to do her best to ensure that this is a success.

"I am more than blessed; it is overwhelming and I am very grateful for the help. This is a long-term investment for me because at first there was no help and now I am getting the help. Through this business, I am hoping that I can sustain my family and see how best I can take care of my house," she said.

Smith-White getting support

She told CENTRAL STAR that a pig was donated to her and she has plans of starting a pig farm, along with the chicken coop.

"Mi start seek out buyers already that when time come, mi have people to buy. Even if a far mi affi go and get buyer, a that me affi go do because this is for my family," she said.

Scale said that she was interested in highlighting the progress of Smith-White because people have been asking about her and wanting to know how they can help.

She said that a bank in Manchester has offered to assist Smith-White with starting her business by donating 25 chickens, bags of feeding and sawdust.

"I want to appeal to people to assist the family in any way they are able to so she can solidify a foundation that she can build on. So whether they want to assist the children with back-to-school supplies or maybe to attain more chickens since she is starting with 25, or maybe they want to be a beneficiary outlet since she is supplying chicken," she said.

Persons who wish to assist Smith-White may contact her at (876)845-6561