Anguilla Electricity Company Ltd (ANGLEC) proves that its motto “providing power to the people” is not just a literal mantra, but a symbolic company culture as it showed its support for a growing cause in the community. Warm words and smiles set the mood on Tuesday, July 17th, as
ANGLEC’s Community Donations Committee bestowed its gift of $5,000 EC to the Arijah Children’s Foundation.
The ceremony began, at 11:00 am at ANGLEC’s main office in The Valley, with welcome remarks by Committee Members and heartfelt appreciation from Renuka Harrigan, Founder and President of the Arijah Children’s Foundation.
ANGLEC’s Donations Committee is comprised of employees who have come together to put social responsibility into action for a positive impact on community development.
ANGLEC’s Chief Financial Officer and Committee Member, David Gumbs, remarked that though the donation was small in comparison to the work being done by the Arijah Foundation, ANGLEC was proud to contribute to the cause. Upon accepting the cheque, Mrs. Harrigan cheerfully recounted the significance of the donation saying, “no amount is small. Some of our first donations came from children giving little bags of pennies, dimes and quarters” all of which went towards building the Foundation into what it is today.
The donation given by ANGLEC will support the running of the Foundation’s education and therapeutic centre for special needs children. Mrs. Harrigan has a daughter named Arijah, with special needs, after which the Foundation was named, and knows firsthand the importance of community involvement in this area. She poured out her gratitude for the work and donations given to the Foundation, over the years, stating that: “We can’t do this on our own. We don’t have the means.” Nevertheless, she has worked incredibly hard to draw attention to the issue of special needs child care in Anguilla, to great avail.
Over the past six years, many wonderful developments have spurred from the Foundation, these include the Blossom Centre that opened its doors in 2010. The Centre was established to continue the Foundation’s mission to “serve Anguilla’s children with special needs,” and stands as an educational and therapeutic haven for children with unique developmental needs.
The Centre is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm and runs on the same schedule as traditional schools on the island. You can find the Blossom Centre nestled in the front right corner of the Kentish Building, in The Quarter, teeming with sounds of educational DVDs, toys and words of encouragement as children and staff learn and play together.
The staff at the Centre consists of a permanent teacher and a teaching assistant who are periodically accompanied by community members and therapists from all over the world who eagerly volunteer their time for the betterment of the children. The goal is to maximize the children’s potential and possibly integrate them into school and other social environments by giving them the tools they need to function better on their own. The Centre targets developmental areas such as muscle building, speech, life skills and coordination through academics and fun activities such as art, baking and field trips and much more. According to Mrs. Harrigan, there are children who could not walk before but are now taking their first steps with confidence, and many who did not talk prior to coming to the Centre but are now speaking full sentences.
At the ANGLEC donation ceremony she declared the Centre’s progress was quite “ powerful,” though no pun was intended. The Donations Committee agreed that the care, hard work and success of the Foundation was undoubtedly in the spirit of what they stood for.
If you would like to join ANGLEC in its support of special needs children, in any capacity, feel free to contact the Arijah Foundation at (264) 235-2742. In addition, you may ‘like’ its Facebook page (Arijah Children’s Foundation) and visit the website (www.arijahcf.org) for updates on activities and programs.
Article by: Jemila Morson
