SANDY POINT, St. Kitts and Nevis (December 24, 2012): Fellow Sandy Pointers, home and abroad, and nationals and residents of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, I greet you at this time of festive enjoyment of Christmas. I extend warmest regards from myself and my Executive and from the General Membership and volunteers of Sandy Pointers Inspiring Real Improvement Throughout (SPIRIT).
Christmas in St. Kitts and Nevis has retained its long tradition of shopping and cleaning, feasting and celebrating—a time of year where we make merry in various ways from the thanksgiving services at churches all around the nation to masquerading through the streets. We celebrate from a place of excess and abundance!
But more importantly, Christmas brings with it a more poignant message. We are reminded of the good news the angels predicted, the prized offerings the Kings and wise men laid at the feet of the baby Jesus and the peace and goodwill that had been brought to Earth by his birth. It is this goodwill that inspires us to reach out to those in our towns and villages who are still reeling from the blows of economic hardship or are experiencing less-than-favorable social conditions. That good will inspires us to give, to love, to serve, to help, to encourage. Above all, it keeps us grateful for the blessings we have, even when adversity befalls us.
This goodwill however is not seasonal, nor is the plight of the less fortunate around us. Just as a food hamper at Christmas can bring a family delight for the Season, an act of volunteerism and community service can inspire another good act, can catch like wild fire, and transform an entire community. This goodwill is within us all! In fact, it is this self-evident goodwill that led us at SPIRIT to trumpet this year’s theme: Community-Inspired!
The past 24 months have been remarkable for Sandy Point and SPIRIT. We have seen an incredible outpouring of support of volunteers, partners, sponsors—people who are community-inspired and wish to give to the community’s development. We are very pleased that SPIRIT is able to be a vehicle in which this service and volunteerism can be made effective.
Our members have been inspired by our community, and the camaraderie and pride it is best known for, to channel their passion and promise into projects and programmes that in turn inspire real improvement throughout the nation. We note the sacrifice of all those volunteers who came out during those early morning drivesto clean up and renovate the Sandy Point Market in support of SPAACS; to repaint and renovate the Sandy Point Hard Court in preparation for SPIRIT events; to construct our latest Bus Terminal, in partnership with SCASPA; to clean up our street-line by clearing and removing abandoned, derelict buildings in partnership with CIPEO; or to support the Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity (CEBO) Youth Entrepreneurship Training scheme in partnership with the Ministry of Youth.
This is the material of which SPIRIT is made: an enduring commitment to serve, not inspired by anything but our community and its development. Even from our inception in May 2010, our first meeting was a gathering of 25 young people bubbling with ideas of how we can lend a hand, how we can give to our community in a way that would encourage others to be inspired to do likewise. Some of the earliest ideas have still lived on two years after our initial community walkthrough. Our Pride, Virtues and Civics (PVC) campaign is chief of these. Through this special medium, we urge people to volunteer and to serve and to take a stand, whenever necessary, to advance and protect our community values. This campaign consisted of events geared toward highlighting the importance of community values and has extended to a more general call to action to protect our historical Sandy Point High School and our invaluable land. In all cases, our PVC campaign has been met with tremendous support of people, ordinary people, taking ordinary steps to create extraordinary exploits in their communities. Whether you signed on to one of our petitions, supported our public stance on national issues or simply gave a word of encouragement, we are grateful for your goodwill.
SPIRIT is pleased in its role of translating well-meaning ideas of community development into effective programmes on the ground, and the only thing that allows us to do this so well, is the vast willingness to serve manifest in the actions of our troop of members and volunteers or the donations of our community partners and events sponsors. So, last week, when we announced 25% of our entire 2012 surplus as donations to the schools in Sandy Point and the three major sporting associations, we were only able to do that because of the time, energy, service and sacrifice that you, the community, invested! It is this goodwill which I speak of today.
We are making volunteerism a viable and interesting alternative to apathy! I say this because Sandy Pointers have been agitated in the last two years to give in ways they might not have before. In fact, by our second staging of our premier festival Black San’ Bang-a-Lang we have seen the number of volunteers increase by almost a factor of three; we have seen more teachers and coaches lend their hand to the Grassroots football programme in partnership with SPAFA; more educators joining our Jr. SPIRIT panel as we prepare to fully adopt the Sandy Point Primary School by 2014; we have witnessed people in the community calling to ask simply ‘What can I do to help?’
I wish to respond here, during this our first Christmas message. People throughout our community have volunteered in various ways. Some have given in time, others in goods, while some have made financial donations to support the work we do. A great way of being community-inspired and acting upon it is to become a SPIRIT member! Our drill to maintain community pride and put it into effecting positive social change should provide just the enabling environment for you.
Alternatively, becoming a SPIRIT volunteer means when convenient to you, you can lend a hand and serve your community from cleaning up after events and making sure our community events run smoothly, to serving one of our four pillars in their sustainable programmes.
But even beyond that, if you have a great idea of how you can help to make your community a better place, gather a few committed hands and get it done. Take initiative and inspire others to do the same. In the New Year, our Community Empowerment Division will be announcing the launch of a new programme which will provide small, start-up volunteerism projects with administrative support, advice and general guidance, because when it comes to inspiring real community improvement, we are all in it together!
And so, this Christmas, I challenge you to look at what you have and think of how you can apply it to bring about meaningful change in the lives of others. What do you have to give? Is it time, money, grocery, equipment? Is it talent in organizing, leadership skills, a skill to communicate effectively? Is it a love for helping the elderly, a passion for the young, a heart for the troubled? Whatever it is, let us be prompted by the goodwill that Christmas brings and let us be inspired by our communities and make a difference in the lives of others.
From the desk of the SPIRIT Executive to you and yours, I wish you an enjoyable Christmas, a safe Carnival season and a bright and promising New Year in which we will all be inspired to inspire Real Improvement Throughout!
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