Monday 16thDecember 2013 – The Valley, Anguilla: Digicel Anguilla, in partnership with Silent People, a non-profit charitable organisation, brightened this Christmas for a number of underprivileged childrenwhen it delivered presents to six primary schools across Anguilla last Wednesday (11.12.13).
The food and toy drive is the brain child of Simone Patterson, the founder of Silent People, whose aim is to be the voice of children who otherwise wouldn’t have one and whose parents are not able to provide a meal for them. The six schools that received the food and toys were Valley Primary School, Orealia Kelly Primary School, Vivian Vanterpool Primary School, Morris Vanterpool Primary School, Adrian T. Hazell Primary School and Alwyn Allison Primary School.
While presenting the gifts to the schools, Ms.Patterson spoke about her inspiration for embarking on this initiative.
“Too often children are going to school without a proper meal to sustain them throughout the day and because their parents who are ashamed to admit they need help and as a result, the children are the ones to suffer. But with the help of the teachers, we’ve been able to identify a number of children in the country’s six primary schools that really need the help. And with the support from Digicel, we were able to bring a peace of mind and joyto these children and their parents in this festive season.”
Ms. Patterson also thanked Digicel for its unwavering support in the food and toy drive.
She continued, “I want to also extend my gratitude to the Digicel team for providing the support –they truly made a difference in every child’s life.”
Digicel Country manager, John Gidharry, presented the items to Marville Richardson, Valley Primary School Deputy Principal.
“It gives me great pleasure to know that we can make a difference in these children’s lives. This is a special time of year and we want each child and their family to enjoy it as much as those who are fortunate to afford it. The presence of Santa and his helpers today speaks volumes. The children were really excited and overjoyed to see them and that tells me that children still believe in Christmas as I did when I was young and that’s heart-warming. A special thank you to Silent People for inviting us to be a part of this initiative; we are honoured and we will continue to support themon these types of projects.”
DigicelBrand Ambassadors, Susan Best and Lisa Rey joined Santa Claus and his helpers in volunteering their time to brighten Christmas for these children. Susan Best led the children in singing Christmas carols and also encouraged the teachers and Digicel staff to join in.
“I am grateful that I had this opportunity to brighten not only the children’s Christmas, but their future. We want them to know that we care about their well-being and I will lend my assistance whenever it’s asked of me,” said Susan.
Digicel will continue to brighten the Christmas season with the Digicel Family Fun Day at James Ronald Webster Park on National Heroes Day(Thursday 19th December) with Santa and his helpers and lots of giveaways.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
