Financial boost

Barbadian children and those living through homelessness have received a financial boost from the new Kooyman Megastore.

During the official opening of the first Megastore in the Eastern Caribbean on Saturday, management presented Slow Food Barbados with BDS$35 000 and the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness, formerly the Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society, with BDS$25 000.

Kooyman’s CEO Herbert van de Woude said the company’s sponsor and donation policy focuses on youth, education, poverty reduction and sustainability.

He said Kooyman’s support for Slow Food and the Alliance to End Homelessness meets all four of its sponsorship pillars.

“However, this is more than just meeting those goals, we believe in these projects and their positive impact in Barbados. The educational garden Slow Food will organize at the Milton Lynch primary school in Wotton, Christ Church will teach children the importance of growing their own food. And being a hardware store, we think we can definitely contribute to the shelter that was opened recently by the Barbados Homeless and Vagrant Society,” the CEO said.

Slow Food Barbados Administrative Coordinator Jennifer Ward-Clarke said the money will specially support Slow Food’s school gardening programme, which encourages students to get their hands dirty as they learn the art of growing their own food.

“Education is provided right from how to plant, how to grow, how to harvest and how to use the products that they are reaping from their gardens. As the school year turns over, a different group of students are involved,” Ward-Clarke said.

President of the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness Kemar Saffrey said the donation from Kooyman will assist with maintaining the organisation’s shelter in Spry Street and also its rehabilitation programmes. (AH)