Wilkin Harrigan and Marcia Hodge
Every year, for the past five years, the Education Unit of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mount Fortune solicits funds or items from church members, and the community, that would be used to provide — at the beginning of the school year — back-to-school supplies for children returning to school.
During the Sabbath service on Saturday, December 4th, the Education Unit was pleased to recognise the contributions of three donors who have given selflessly to this worthy cause throughout the years. These are: Mrs. Ruth Smith, local entrepreneur of BabyBeanz, as well as Mr. Kerri Harrigan and his colleague, Mr. Raymond Victorine, both residents of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
Mrs. Charmaine Rogers, the Education Unit’s Coordinator, spoke concerning the history of the provision of back-to-school supplies: “It was July 2016 in one of the back rooms of the CPC Seventh-day Adventist Church in Virginia, United States, that the idea of the Education – Back-to-School Programme was born. The aim was to enable benevolent persons to make a tangible deposit in the lives of our students.
“Since that time the Education Unit of the church was able to prepare, package and distribute well needed school supplies to students from Pre-Kindergarten to Form 6.
“In 2017 and 2018 the programme was blessed with the support and contributions from three (3) noble partners who saw that there was need and wanted to assist in fulfilling that need. Their contributions to the annual event have enabled the programme to grow from strength to strength.”
In making presentations to these three generous contributors, Mrs. Rogers’ Assistant, Ms. Marcia Hodge explained: “The Karle T. Smith Foundation was formed to carry on the legacy of Mr. Karle T. Smith after he passed away in 2015. He was a kind and compassionate man who believed that no act of kindness, no matter how small it might be, is ever wasted. In honour of Mr. Smith, and in an effort to carry on his legacy of kindness, his wife Ruth, owner of BabyBeanz, willingly and readily donated a number of school supplies to this worthy cause.
“I specifically remember that the Sabbath after our first back-to-school drive in 2017, I received a call from Teacher Maria indicating that ‘Ruth for Karle’ wanted me to give her a call because she had selected supplies which she would have liked to donate to our back-to-school effort. I took the phone number and called Ruth. We arranged that I would visit her at her store the following Sunday morning.
“When I entered the store, she had so many items already prepared, but she still asked what else she could give. There were books, socks, buckets, pencils, water bottles, and so much more. What struck me most about her act of kindness was the freewill contribution of 25 school bags and 13 lunch kits. I felt rather guilty as she liberally pulled items from the racks and shelves. I asked her, ‘Are you sure?’ She said, ‘If I had known earlier, I would have ordered more stuff for the children. So, make sure you let me know early next year.’
“Through Ruth’s contributions, we were able to give every student in pre-K and Kindergarten a lunch bag and a water bottle; and every student in Grades 1 & 2 received a school bag with supplies.
Ruth said that she believes the scripture in Proverbs 19:17 that says: ‘Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
Marcia then went on to relate concerning the contributions of Mr. Kerri Harrigan: “Kerri Harrigan, who is a police lieutenant with the Virgin Islands Police Dept. (VIPD), is a son of the Anguillian soil, and currently residing on St. Thomas. A police officer for the past 26 years, he is the son of church members Wilkin and Linda Harrigan.
“Kerri holds an Associate Degree in political science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice. He says: ‘Education is the foundation for our children. My Fire-fighter friend, Raymond Victorine, and I decided that the more we can do for the children, the better it would be for them. There would be less stress and worries for their parents, and the children’s main focus would be on learning rather than worrying about their supplies for school.”
Special goodwill tokens of thanks issued to Messrs Kerri Harrigan and Raymond Victorine were received on their behalf by Kerri’s parents, Wilkin and Linda. Ruth was on hand to accept the token on behalf of her late husband and the Karle T. Smith Foundation.
Education Coordinator, Mrs. Rogers, concluded: “On behalf of Pastor Howard Simon and the church, and particularly on behalf of the Education Unit, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Ruth, Kerri and Raymond for their freewill donations towards our annual back-to-school drive.”
