Shamir Brown – Correspondent
Hanover Charities has provided a big boost for the educational pursuits of a number of students in the parish.
This year, 191 students have been provided with scholarships, totaling 24 million dollars. The funds were provided to assist recipients with their educational pursuits. The number of recipients is up from 125 students in previous years. This was revealed by Katrin Casserly, chair of the Hanover Charities, as she gave her report at their annual grant ceremony held last Thursday at the Round Hill Hotel.
Through the support of a number of donors and the earnings from their annual Sugar Cane Ball that was held earlier this year, the organization was able to make a number of donations to students in Hanover and its environs. The students – who are both repeat beneficiaries and new ones -were able to collect scholarships in various amounts to assist in their schooling, both local and overseas. She related that it was a hard task to decide who should receive the scholarships after getting a number of applications to choose from. It was revealed that over the last five years, over US $500,000.00 has been disbursed in support of students who are seeking to achieve their educational goals.
However, while she noted that the charity will seek to continue to support more students in a similar fashion in the coming years, she called on the recipients of grants for this year and also past recipients to become donors for a cause, whether it is in the form service or cash.
She further highlighted that the students are part of a larger scheme of giving that will see over 61 million dollars being disbursed to not only students, but to various organizations that Hanover Charities has pledged to assist. One of the benefitting organizations will be the Green Island Primary School, who, through a joint initiative, will see the erection of a new multipurpose hall and classrooms to accommodate the growth of the institution.
Dr. Patrick Prendergast, who was guest speaker at the function, also lauded the efforts of Hanover Charities for empowering the students and other beneficiaries through this act of giving. Though small in size, he related that the charity has done so much in giving to the needy, especially to students who do not have the opportunity to pay their tuitions.
However, he called on the recipients to pay it forward. “We must not only show gratitude today; we must also be prepared to fully embrace the responsibility that comes with being a beneficiary of this noble charity. One such responsibility is to give back. In the contemporary world, they call it pay it forward. I contend that you are the best positioned to pay it forward,” Dr. Prendergast remarked.