It all began with the Minister of Infrastructure, Mr. Curtis Richardson, travelling to Trinidad on behalf of Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks, to thank a group of business persons there for their assistance to Anguilla following Hurricane Irma.
It was there that the Minister entered an arrangement for the school supplies for Anguilla. He personally delivered the specially-engraved bags, in four colours, along with exercise books and pencils, on Monday, August 27, to the Alwyn Allison Primary School at West End; the Vivien Vanterpool Primary School at Island Harbour; and the Adrian T. Hazell Primary School at South Hill/Blowing Point. The presentations were made to the respective Principals of the schools: Mrs. Tricia Richardson, Mrs. Mavis Fleming-Drakes and Ms. Tiffany Thomas; and members of their staff as well as a number of parents and students. The largest recipient was the Adrian T. Hazel School which is in Mr. Richardson’s constituency, and where the school population is the biggest.
The Minister explained that he did not include the other primary schools in the presentation because other persons and charity organisations were already involved in that process. He did not want to overlap those arrangements.
Mr. Richardson, who requested media representatives to accompany him on his distribution tour, said: “I got a very good offer out of Trinidad…that if I buy 150 bags, the company will give me 150 free. As you know, I went to Trinidad some months ago – for the Chief Minister – to express our appreciation to the business people who provided hurricane relief for us. Some of them felt that they wanted to continue to support us especially with the back-to-school initiative that I spoke to them about. A company in Trinidad made the bags, and you can see that the canvas material is very strong and they are well put together.”
Minister Richardson continued: “On the bags is my 2020 vision logo. It is not a Niki Bag or a dealer’s bag. Every bag has a branding on it. People will take it however they wish, but this is a Curtis Love Bag.” The bags were delivered by him in partnership with Mr. Cardigan Connor and Mrs. Evalie Bradley (Elected Representatives for Districts 5 and 7 respectively), and his Ministerial Assistant, Mr. Othlyn Vanterpool, all of whom assisted by providing the books and pencils.
In addition to the above donations, Mr. Richardson informed the recipient schools that a Trinidadian supplier had also given him 1,000 shortened exercise books (half the size of the regular books) for distribution as well. He thought he would seek to find out how useful they would be to the children before actually presenting them. He was pleased to be told that the books, which he will later distribute, would be most appreciated.
Minister Richardson was grateful to a number of persons who assisted him in transporting the schoolbags to Anguilla.
