Basseterre, St. Kitts — Nationals in the Diaspora continue to give back to their home country, and this spirit has continued in this year’s period of goodwill as the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis celebrates Carnival, Christmas, and New Year festivities.
New York based Vice President of the New York-St. Peter’s Alumni and Friends Mr Troy Welsh, who is currently at home, on Monday December 29 made a donation of US$1,000 on behalf of his group to the St. Kitts Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities.
According to Mr Welsh, the New York-St. Peter’s Alumni was formed by a group of alumni who found the common goal to give back to the St. Peter’s Primary School, now named Deane-Glasford Primary School. The group now includes friends of St. Peter’s as well.
“Over the years the group has raised funds through functions such as parties or galas and for this year we held the 31st Independence Gala in New York and we raised funds to do these worthy causes,” observed Mr Welsh.
“Our main function is to assist the primary school but we found it rewarding and beneficial to give to other organisations and institutions both in New York and here in St. Kitts. A few years back we made a donation to the St. Kitts Breast Cancer Association and today I am here to make a donation to the St. Kitts Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities.”
Mr Welsh noted that a member of the association who knows him well approached him, and after he did research he found out that one member of the association who is a student of Graphic Design has his father and grandfather in New York and they are members of the alumni.
“So it was so much like we saw it being beneficial and fitting after the members of the St. Kitts Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities approached us, and we are here today to make this donation of US$1,000,” said Mr Welsh.
Mr Anthony Mills, President of the St. Kitts Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities, who was accompanied by secretary of the association Ms Mary Clarke, gave a heartfelt thank you to the New York-St. Peter’s Alumina and Friends for the generous donation.
“We can only function because of donations from groups like these and from individuals otherwise we would not be able to do the work that we do,” said Mr Mills. The association operates from the McKnight Community Centre where they train their members in Graphic Design and Microsoft Office.
“As a non-profit organisation we rely solely on donations to function, and we are adding more and more programmes to what we do,” said Mr Mills. “We know it is going to cost more and so we are glad to have associations like these on board to ensure that we can carry out the much needed work that we do here in this Federation.”
He told the visiting official that the St. Kitts Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities is looking into entrepreneurial programmes because after they finish training the people in Graphic Design and Microsoft Office, they have to have somewhere to earn a living.
“So we are looking to teach some of them to be entrepreneurs so they can go out there and be freelance designers and stuff like that so that they can earn a living and continue to be independent instead of relying on others, and we are thankful for this donation which will go a long way in helping us achieve our goals,” concluded Mr Mills.