Home  Corporate News 2008 REGIONAL UNSUNG HERO FINALISTS RECEIVE AWARDS
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2008 REGIONAL UNSUNG HERO FINALISTS RECEIVE AWARDS |
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Friday, 27 March 2009 |
 FROM LEFT: JOHN ORR, CEO, FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK, THOMAS WATTS OF BARBADOS, VEOLANT CUPID OF ST. VINCENT, GWENDOLYN CHAMBERS OF ANTIGUA, PATSY THOMAS OF DOMINICA AND MILTON BRADY, TRUSTEE, FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL COMTRUST FOUNDATION.
The presentation ceremony also officially marked the launch of the 2009 Unsung Heroes programme, now in its sixth year, and once again, citizens across the region are encouraged to nominate outstanding contributors in their communities for participation in the Unsung Heroes programme.
CEO of FirstCaribbean International Bank, John Orr, made the presentations to the four finalists: Most Outstanding Unsung Hero, Mrs. Veolant Cupid of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Runners-up Barbadian, Mr. Thomas Watts, and Ms. Patsy Thomas of Dominica; while there was a Special Commendation for Antigua’s Gwendolyn Chambers.
The most outstanding Unsung Hero received an award of US $7,500, and each runner-up was granted US$5,000 as an investment towards the advancement of their charitable work. The monetary award for the Special Commendation was US $5,000.
Following the presentation of awards, Chairman of FirstCaribbean International Bank, Mr. Michael Mansoor said he was extremely pleased with the contribution that the Unsung Heroes Programme continued to make across the region. He said the programme had proven to be an excellent vehicle through which FirstCaribbean could both acknowledge and live up to its social responsibilities across the 17 regional participating countries in the region.
“I believe judging from the results to date that the Unsung Heroes who have emerged provide more than adequate justification for our continued investment in the Programme,” Mansoor said.
Indicative of the high standard set in 2008, Mansoor added that it was only the second year that a Special Commendation had been awarded at the regional level. This was awarded to Antiguan Gwendolyn Chambers for her unswerving dedication to orphaned or abandoned children, raising at least 15 as her very own, and opening the doors of her home and heart to countless others during school vacation programmes.
“This FirstCaribbean Unsung Heroes Programme allows us to partner with these heroic individuals in reaching out to some of the more vulnerable in our regional communities; and we are happy to be able to make such a contribution which is consistent with our FirstCaribbean motto: ‘get there together’,” Mansoor said.
2008’s Most Outstanding Unsung Hero, Mrs. Veolant Cupid was recognised for her immense contribution to a number of communities in St. Vincent in the areas of foster-care; mentorship; outreach to the poor; skills training; adult and pre-school education; vacation Bible school and summer programmes; prison ministry and outreach to the elderly. In addition, Mrs. Cupid functioned as the Peace Corps home stay parent for St. Vincent; coordinator for the National Literacy Crusade in the Lauders community; village counselor and goat-skin lawyer; and has been a Justice of the Peace for 10 years.
79-year-old Thomas Watts’ runner-up placing came as a result of the Barbadian having dedicated 29 years of his life to reaching out to former prison inmates, investing his pension funds and sharing his personal resources to see them rehabilitated and successfully reintegrated into society.
The work of Patsy Thomas, 47, in helping to alleviate poverty in the Carib Territory and surrounding districts in her native Dominica, along with bringing acceptance and education to the young and differently-abled among the indigenous Kalinago people was also recognised with a runner-up placing.
The 2009 Unsung Heroes Programme will be launched in the various countries across the region in early April.
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