[dropcap]C[/dropcap]lub GAR’s annual Walk 4 a Cause event has passed but the group’s groundbreaking achievements continue. Every year Club GAR—well known for providing firearm and competitive shooting training—hosts a walk with the intent of raising funds for a particular charity. This year the organisation donated its proceeds to the Saint Lucia Blind Welfare Association. Having attracted a crowd of approximately eleven hundred participants, the walk was held on June 3 and raised $93,300—an unprecedented amount for local fund-raising activities of a similar nature. The club’s achievement has since drawn the attention of Massy Stores who came on board to raise the bar even further. On Thursday the supermarket chain, in a special cheque presentation ceremony held at its headquarters, donated an additional $6,700 to Club GAR and ultimately to the SLBWA.
Club GAR ‘s intial accomplishment of accumulating $93,300 had left it floored, according to a representative. Mr. Anthony Avril, Executive Director of the SLBWA, challenged the club to bring the donation amount even higher, to $100,000–-a challenge, Club GAR says, it willingly accepted. The team, cognizant to Massy Stores’ reputation as a “strong corporate giver” reached out to its executives and the decision proved rewarding.
“When we were approached by Club GAR to assist in raising the bar with their own activity, we felt the need to. Why? Because we understand the value of the work that SLBWA does for Saint Lucia,” said Divisional Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications Sariah Best-Joseph.
She added, “This is an organisation that touches many Saint Lucians. We [Massy Stores] are also an organisation that touches many persons as we have all walks of life coming through our supermarkets on a daily basis. I also know that our staff, twelve hundred of whom are very excited that we are doing this, some of them have actually been touched by the SLBWA.”
Best-Joseph later urged business colleagues to extend a charitable arm: “What we recognize is that there is a major role for the private sector to use its financial resources to assist with the overall development of our country. In partnership with non-governmental and charitable organisations, if we all come together, there are many, many beautiful things that we can do as a country.”
President of the SLBWA, Glen Simon, was on hand to receive the cheque on the association’s behalf. He said: “This is one of the biggest, single donations that has ever been given to the SLBWA, and Club GAR has been remarkable in the way that they have conducted this Walk 4 a Cause and included the blind welfare. We’ve worked so hard together.”
The SLBWA, which in the past few years has been experiencing financial burdens, provides medical and several other forms of aid to improve ease and comfort of living for the visually impaired. Simon added, “It’s extremely important that the blind welfare survives; it should be there for the next generation.”
Club GAR’s gathered funds will be secured by the National Community Foundation as per a memorandum of understanding. These funds will be dispersed to the SLBWA based on set guidelines agreed upon by the organisations involved to determine how the monies are used.
Anthony Bristol, Executive Member of Club GAR, explained why the group annually undergoes such a philanthropic venture: “This year’s Walk 4 A Cause has really taken on, we think, the life we want Walk 4 a Cause to take. It’s not just about our ability to get people going on the day of the walk, it’s about the ability to raise consciousness and awareness of critical, social needs that impact all the people of Saint Lucia.
“We cannot thank Saint Lucians enough and we are grateful for corporate Saint Lucia. We ask, now that they are coming to their budgeted process for next year, to look within themselves and put an amount, $2,000 or $5,000, towards the SLBWA.”
