Ten students will be better equipped for the upcoming school term, thanks to a charitable donation from FirstLegal Attorneys.
The law practice is headed by Ona Harewood, a former journalist with the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.
The primary and secondary school students today received uniforms, shoes, stationery, art supplies, monies to assist with the payment of school fees, as well as other incidentals, from Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones and Ms. Harewood, in a brief ceremony at the Elsie Payne Complex, Constitution Road.
In complimenting FirstLegal, Minister Jones said: ???To whom much is given, much is expected. That???s a basic fundamental and the young attorneys at FirstLegal, in recognition of the contribution of the State and people of Barbados to their education, have sought to give back.???
Noting that there was a general paucity of giving among our population, he said, ???So much more can be given to help so many others.??? Acknowleding that there were still challenging times in our society, he added: ???There are still always times of needs. It just becomes a little more acute when the financial challenges are more deeply penetrative, such as they are now.???
Encouraging others to make a contribution to their society, Mr. Jones stressed: ???We need to connect to the legacy and culture of the past, to the sharing and the caring and giving. That is important.???
The Minister and former teacher urged the students receiving the donations to ???stay connected???, work hard and not to let peer pressure change them.
Ms. Harewood, in thanking the Minister for assisting with the presentation, pointed out that her FirstLegal Attorneys Back-To-School Initiative aimed to assist students with back to school needs. She explained that it started as an in-house effort to help some of her clients who had lost their jobs and/or were experiencing severe financial hardship. The attorney stated that other clients who could afford it contributed to the effort and donations were also received from businesses.
Ms. Harewood further noted that it was her plan to make the initiative an annual one and she hoped that in the future, it could be expanded so that even more students will be able to benefit. She also urged students to ???go to school and learn well??? because the future depended on them.
joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb