The Departments of Education and Sports recently received generous contributions via YatchAid Global. YatchAid Global (YAG) is an organization which coordinates the acquisition and delivery of humanitarian aid to coastal communities in need or impacted by natural disasters in collaboration with a global network of volunteers, vetted NGOs and disaster relief experts. In this particular instance, YAG was contacted by Mrs. Dolan and Family, owners of the S/Y Knickerbocker, who specifically wanted to aid the island in both its Education and Sports sectors.
Mrs. Rhonda Connor, Chief Education Officer, and Ms. Rebecca Haskins, ICT Curriculum Officer, were contacted in March of this year by YAG and asked what was needed. The Department was struggling with a copier machine located at the Teachers Resource Centre that kept breaking down, and with so many exam papers to prepare at the time, Mrs. Connor suggested a heavy duty photocopy machine.
Director of Sports, Andre Collins, said he was similarly excited when he was contacted and recalls: “It was so interesting as we were just looking at all the work we needed to do to get our playing fields up and running. As you know most of these spaces are connected to schools, and Mr. Rollins Richardson and I said how great it would have been if we could have placed playgrounds at these schools when restoration works were completed. It was as if our prayer was being answered so we did not hesitate by sharing the need.”
Both Ms. Haskins and Mr. Collins agree that the team at YatchAid Global had been amazing sharing that, from the very first meeting with Captain Tim Forderer and the ongoing communications with various members of the team including Francie Tanner, Zoran Selakovic and the visit from Captain Eric Bell, they were all super.
The Department of Education and Department of Sports would like to extend special thanks to Mrs. Dolan and Family of the S/Y Knickerbocker for their generosity and humanitarian support. Captain Bell, who visited the island in June, echoed these sentiments on his visit and expressed what a joy it was for the family to make this donation to the island. Education and Sports as recipients of this generosity are quite thankful and happy, highlighting that these donations would go a long way in providing support to Education and recreation to hundreds of children in Anguilla in the aftermath of such a traumatic and devastating event.
– Contributed
