BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN keeping with their promise to assist the two hurricane-ravished islands of Dominica and Puerto Rico, organizers of the Latin Festival yesterday (Nov. 23) handed over an EC$12,293 cheque to a representative of the St. Kitts-Dominica Association (SKDA).
At the simple but very significant ceremony held at the Kajola Kristada Limited at the C.A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site, Chairman of the Latin Festival Planning Committee, Jose Rosa handed over the cheque to President of the SKDA Miriam Etienne.
At the launch of the 2017 event in September, Rosa had had informed that the committee would be donating half of the admission fees to the two islands.
Rosa stated that it was a pleasure to hand over the cheque to the representative from the local association, who would in turn select projects or areas that the fund could best be utilized.
He added that it was also a pleasure to honour the commitment made by the committee to assist those affected by the storm.
According to the Chairman, the Latin Festival – which is an event that continues to grow from year to year - is managed by members of a non-profit organization where they do not make any monies from organizing the event, “but we understand that it is very important for us to give to those brothers and sisters in the two islands that suffered as a consequence of Hurricane Maria”.
“It is a pleasure for me this afternoon to be giving out the cheque to Ms. Miriam Etienne…”
Etienne told the media that the catastrophic storm caused major damage to infrastructures on the island of Dominica and brought the country “down to its knees”.
As a result, many people have lost their lives, many have been reported missing and it has left the island so damaged that it is still in need of relief supplies.
“I want to thank the Latin Festival for your cheque of $12,293. I promise you sir that we are going to put this money into good use. At the moment, the association is going to identify projects in Dominica that we can assist, and we will keep you informed of how your money was spent,” Etienne told Rosa.
The launch of this year’s Latin Festival was held at the Mojito Bar, and yesterday management of the establishment donated $6,217.10 to the Relief Fund organized by the Latin Festival Organizing Committee.
Some time in the near future the organizers will also be donating to a representative organization from Puerto Rico, and those funds will also assist in relief and recovery efforts.
