by Eulana Weekes
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The Ministry of Education on Nevis received EC$35,000 dollars from the Caribbean Foundation for Children Inc. The development programme is geared toward assisting all Public Primary Schools on Nevis. The donation derived from a fundraising event recently held at the Botanical Gardens in Nevis.
In a brief ceremony on Friday, April 22, the President of the Caribbean Foundation for Children Inc. Mr. Michael Henville, and Vice President Mr. Jahreem Encarnacion presented checks to the Principal Education Officer, Ms. Zahnela Claxton.
Henville, who is also the Executive Chef and Food and Nutrition Specialist in the Schools Meals Programme suggested that the schools use the funds to the benefit of the children, specifically the Schools Meal Programme.
“We hope that each school will take these funds and use them properly; use them in any way they can to hopefully help the children, help the children for the School Meals Programme; whether it be purchasing foods or whether it be even paying some outstanding debts. I know that COVID hit some families very hard and there were some parents that had some backed up fees so, maybe these funds can come in handy to clear some of those fees, get those children back on the programme, so I am very, very happy to be here today to do that.”
On behalf of the Ministry and Department of Education, the Principal Education Officer expressed gratitude to the Caribbean Foundation for Children for the timely donation. She alluded to the fact that “an integral part of care and well-being is nutrition.”
“We want to thank you for the foresight and maybe some insight into what the situation is in regards to our children here. You correctly said Mr. Henville that some were affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic and we have tried to ensure that we keep children nourished; so, this donation will go a very long way. We are grateful to the Caribbean Foundation for Children, we are grateful to all the persons that contributed during the fundraiser and we look forward to greater partnerships in the future and we also use this opportunity to encourage others to follow the lead of the Caribbean Foundation for children and to come onboard to support the children here on Nevis in any way possible.”
The Schools Meal Programme is available at all Public Primary Schools on Nevis and the Ministry of Education has made strides over the years to improve the feeding programme with affordable payment methods for parents, meals sponsorship, construction of cafeterias and training opportunities for Schools Meal staff.
