Launch of the Advancement of Children Foundation

 
~~Adz:Right~~ Basseterre, St. Kitts - The Rotary Clubs of St.Kitts and Liamuiga established a Foundation called the Advancement of Children Foundation to counteract the trend of rising violence and anti-social behavior among the young people of the Federation through the promotion of good parenting, family and social values.  The theme of the Foundation is “Ensuring Our Children’s Future”.

The Foundation is registered under the Foundations Act 2003 which will enable it to raise monies locally and abroad for its work.  The two Rotary clubs have pledged $25,000 per year for 5 years and plan to raise additional monies from private sector partners and from charitable and other civic minded persons and organisations.

The Foundation plans to work closely with the public sector in developing new programmes and funding existing ones.  The Foundation will be launched at a fundraising gala dinner at Brimstone Hill on Saturday 15th November 2008.  Performing at the event will be famous Caribbean comedian and personality Paul Keens-Douglas who is himself a Rotarian.  The event is being organised by Sunlinc as its contribution to the Foundation.

The mission statement of the Foundation is “To positively affect the life of the children and youth in our community, by creating an environment that is conducive to learning, growth and contribution, replete with community and family support, and free of violent and negative coercive forces”.

The goals and objectives include the provision of help and guidance in enabling parents to become better parents, to stem the tide of teenage pregnancies, to fund specialists to educate youth in anger management, to eradicate child abuse from society and to champion the development and enforcement of rules and guidelines for the administration of stronger discipline in the home, school and community.

The current board of the Foundation comprises Leah Sahely (Chair), Gary DaSilva, Justice Francis Belle and Leroy Bailey - all Rotarians. The board will shortly be expanded to include private and public sector representatives.

In a message to potential partners of the Foundation its Chair said "the future of this country depends on the future of our children.  It is with great anticipation that we look forward to a future in which all children in our communities will be able to develop their talents.  The time to make a difference is now."