BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH its recent Reactivation Banquet and Induction Ceremony, the Shaping Our Society Club (SOS) is ready to fulfil its motto of “working to make a difference”.
The ceremony was held on Saturday evening (June 13) at Frigate Bay Resort under the patronage of Michael and Cynthia Morton. SOS was founded in 1989 by Val Henry with the objective of strengthening and empowering the nation.
The group suffered a brief period of dormancy in the late nineties and early 2000s; however, with a new executive and a membership of 25 energetic young people, President Gallio Gumbs asserted the group would make up for lost time.
“We will do our best to garner financial resources in collaboration with external forces to invest in progressive projects and effective programmes. Our major concerns going forward are reaching out to at-risk youth, interacting with the Hispanic community so they are free from discrimination and exploitation, and implementing charitable activities to help less fortunate citizens,” she informed.
Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Sam Condor and Director of Youth Geoffrey Hanley were also present at the ceremony. Both officials spoke optimistically of the role the group could play in curbing juvenile violence and delinquency.
In fact, Condor went as far as saying the SOS acronym should instead represent “Save Our Sons”, and urged members to conceptualise their projects with the objective of reforming misguided young men. He noted that the issue of youth violence had not been a challenge during the club’s heyday and warned members to be cognisant of the “mammoth challenges” facing them.
“Times have changed and your challenges are more different and more serious. We are living in times when our youth are at risk. That was not a problem in Val’s time, but it is today, and you must be aware of that.
“We cannot go forward and prosper as a country when our young men are losing their lives on a regular basis. I challenge you to make a real difference in saving our sons and continuing to shape our society to one that generations yet unborn would have every reason to be proud of,” said Condor.
SOS meets weekly on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the TDC Training Room on Fort Street. Persons interested in becoming members can contact Club Services Director Goldha Franks at goldhaf@hotmail.com.
