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Season’s Greetings from the Grenadines Initiative! As the year draws to a close, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our supporters, partners, and community members who have contributed to making 2024 a memorable and rewarding year.
Highlights from 2024
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Scholarships: Awarding scholarships to deserving students, enabling them to pursue their academic goals.
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Learning and literacy: Offering mentorship and learning through afterschool and special programs centred at the Learning Center.
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Food security: Providing food vouchers to support families in communities throughout Bequia, and providing a hot lunch program for students attending schools in Port Elizabeth.
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Hurricane response: Delivering supplies, building materials, and water to families affected by Hurricane Beryl.
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Arts initiatives: Supporting youth arts programs such as Positive Vibes and the work of the Hummingbird Music Studio, including as a sponsor of their recital at the Fig Tree on January 9.
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Youth development: Funding programs at United Fitness and junior sailing programs, providing opportunities for youth to be active, engaged, and set the foundation for active lifestyles.
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Dental care: Partnering with Jack and Mariana Dee in their work at the Paget Farm dental clinic. This includes funding the work that Megan Glynn does—fluoride treatments and workshops—within the clinic and in local schools.
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Medical support: Providing needed supplies to the Bequia Hospital through the Friends of the Grenadines Initiative.
Other highlights include seeing where some of the people we’ve worked with and supported have gotten to this year. We mentioned Osborne Philips in our last newsletter, and he’s doing great things at grad school in Taipei. We were delighted to see Keonna Simon mentioned in an MIT engineering newsletter, highlighting SPISE as an important pathway for students in the Caribbean to access engineering programs.
As we move into 2025, we look forward to continuing and growing the work that we’ve been doing:
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Scholarships: We’ll expand our program of post-secondary scholarships, helping students attend college and university courses within the CARICOM region.
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Child care: We look to creating a day care centre, offering daily support for families with young children.
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Youth Leadership Programs: Nurturing the next generation of leaders with mentorship and skill-building, particularly with an eye to workplace skills and entrepreneurship.
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Music programs: We’ve got some interesting partnership ideas around music performance and education, and we hope to be able to announce those later in the year.
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Food security: We’re proud of the support that we’ve been able to offer around food security, this in partnership with Solana Gooding. But we know we can do more, and we will look to expanding the food security initiative, offering families more comprehensive access to food.
How You Can Help
Your support is more important than ever. Here are some ways you can get involved:
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Volunteer: Join us on the ground or remotely to contribute your skills.
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Spread the Word: Share our mission with your network to amplify our impact.
Wishing You Joy and Peace This Holiday Season
From all of us at the Grenadines Initiative, thank you for being part of our journey. We wish you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
Warm regards,
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