The Optimist Club of Anguilla embarked on its third food drive on June 01st 2012. The monies for the food drives have been made available by a frequent visitor to Anguilla, who wishes to remain anonymous. The donor requested that the funds be spent on food and toiletries for needy families on the island.
Ably led by Optimist Emma Ferguson, the club held two successful food drives over the past 6 months. The first was on December 24th 2012. Impressed with what the club was able to achieve in a day, the donor committed to give another US$10,000 to the club to do further work.
The second food drive took place on the 02nd February 2012 in collaboration with the Axa Cares Food Bank. Groceries worth close to US$4000 dollars were donated for this worthwhile initiative. Thirteen needy families in addition to those identified by Axa Cares received groceries and toiletries.
The remaining US$4600 was earmarked for the third food drive. The majority of these funds were used to purchase food items which were once again donated to the Axa Cares Food Bank to support the work of this group. Thereafter, the remainder of the funds was used to purchase groceries, toiletries and some medical supplies for a few individuals with very specialized needs. One of the recipients, Quinn Claxton, is a young quadriplegic to whom the Optimist Club of Anguilla has been offering support when possible. Assistance with groceries and small medical supplies was also given to two recent gunshot victims, Deion Richardson and Randy Hodge who is a member of the Young Adults Optimist Club.
The Optimist Club of Anguilla is a not for profit organization whose motto is ‘Friend of Youth.’ The Club is grateful for the cooperation of Merchants Market,Lake’s World, J W Proctors and Ashley’s and Sons Supermarket whose support assisted in the success of the food drives.
The Club would especially like to thank the generous donor for his financial gift which so far has amounted to close to US$20,000 and has benefitted numerous vulnerable families in Anguilla.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
