St. Kitts Rotary Club promises productive 2009

By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN adherence to its motto, “Service Above Self”, the Rotary Club of St. Kitts has reinforced its commitment to the execution of a wide variety of projects designed towards the advancement of the Kittitian people.

SKNVibes contacted the Club’s President, Betty-Ann Gilbert, who revealed that although this year would be a challenging one for the organisation, she was confident in the club’s ability to fulfil its mandate.

The first activity for the year will be a Fun Day Tea Party in February where parents and children can interact with each other in a fun-filled environment.

Additionally, the club will continue the work it started with the Bronte Welsh Primary School, which it adopted in November last year.

“There is still some maintenance work to be done, such as repainting the school and purchasing a stove, fridge and cupboards for it. This is a long-term project for the organisation and we intend to serve the school to the best of our abilities,” said the President.

Other projects on the schedule for this year include a golf tournament in March, a car rally in April and a Fathers Day-related activity in June. ~~Adz:Right~~

Rotary St. Kitts will also be involved in a number of smaller, more personal projects. It recently procured the donation of six hospital beds to the Joseph N. France Hospital, along with some medical equipment from a sister Rotary Club in New Jersey.

Furthermore, the club is in the process of identifying a student to pursue a physiotherapy programme in Barbados so that he/she can return to St. Kitts and render service  to those in need.

Gilbert also disclosed that the club intends to revive the John Saunders Scholarship Programme whereby a student from the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College would receive monetary assistance for their pursuit of higher education.

“The public can also expect us to continue some of our traditional projects such as the Cardin House Fun Day in February. However, due to the economic difficulties, we will probably not be able to undertake as many projects we had hoped initially or that the public would like to see us do.

“We are currently undergoing a needs analysis to determine the feasibility of the programmes we are looking to implement. This year the club’s focus is on children so we will continue along this line. Historically, Rotary has always been concerned with literacy, health, hunger and world peace, so we expect to do projects centred around those themes as well,” said Gilbert.