CIBC Caribbean gives back-to-school boost to hundreds of families

Clients of CIBC Caribbean and their children recently got a helping hand with their back-to-school shopping when they went to do business at the bank.

Over 600 parents and the children who accompanied them received specially packed school supplies for infants, primary or secondary school students, which contained books, crayons, glue, pens, pencils and various other supplies appropriate to the age of the student.

Head of Country for Barbados Kemar Polius explained that the bank sought to help ease the burden on families of customers for the new school year, understanding that the beginning of the school year means a complete outfitting of the children, especially those going into new schools.

“This initiative underscores our commitment to care, collaboration, and community. It is part of our Culture of Care for our customers to help these children prepare for a successful academic year,” he added.

Many of the customers collected packages for their children or grandchildren and acknowledged that it would definitely help to ease the burden on their pockets.

Andre Brown, a father of three students attending the Charles F. Broome and St Giles Primary Schools explained that his boys attend extra lessons and the books would be very useful as he now had to get another set of supplies to cover the lessons, and he had not yet purchased those items.

Dominique Headley, who is heading into third form at The Lester Vaughan, and her mom — a long-time customer, stopped by the Warrens branch before visiting the school. She said that she knew that with all the supplies that were needed, the package would help make it easier for her mom.

Thirteen-year-old Rishad Tudor, a pupil of Combermere School, visited the Wildey branch with his mother and collected his package from Branch Manager Francine Arthur and Jan Johnson, senior product manager, Debit and Prepaid Cards.

Paul de Freitas, director of Office Supplies Inc., the company that partnered with the bank to supply the many items, stated, “It was a great pleasure to partner with CIBC’s back-to-school initiative. At this important time of year, their team created an opportunity for the stationery we supplied to reach students directly. It was encouraging to see how effectively they organised and delivered the items to meet real community needs.”

(PR)