girls of grenada 2017

Thank you to our sponsors and invited guests, who selflessly donated their time, money and gifts to help raise funds to support our continued charity efforts for the girls of Grenada. As a direct result of their overwhelming generosity, Skybridge Capital raised in excess of $9,000 in 2017. 

These funds were desperately needed to alleviate some of the burden that families within Grenada experience in their struggles to meet day to day necessities. Revisiting our goals from last year, a summary of the initiatives undertaken by Skybridge Capital during 2017 are as follows:

GOAL 1: College Education costs for 10 young ladies throughout the next 3 years

2017 CONTRIBUTION: Registration and payment of 1st Year College fees for 3 young ladies. Skybridge Capital charity paid for their college education, uniforms, school supplies, laptops and all books required for their 1st year of education. These ladies enrolled in Law, Accounting and General Office Administration respectively at the T.A Marryshow Community College in the capital, St Georges.  Without the support from our sponsors and guests, these young ladies would not be attending college and their future opportunities would be limited.

GOAL 2: 50% of a ducted air condition unit to be installed into a local primary school educating approximately 300 students. The remaining cost will be funded by the parents of the children.

2017 CONTRIBUTION: Unfortunately we were unable to satisfy our goal of providing  an industrial air-conditioning unit to the local primary school as the parent of the children were unable to meet their 50% contribution of the purchase and installation cost. Instead, we decided to allocate these funds towards the purchase of a utility vehicle mentioned below in 'Additional Contributions'.

GOAL 3: School supplies (such as books, pencils etc ) for a larger number of primary students. 
+ GOAL 4: Young Children’s clothing, including school clothing.

2017 CONTRIBUTION: School backpacks, school supplies and general clothing for over 50 children between the ages of 1-15 years who were ready to commence or recommence their schooling year.

GOAL 5: Personal hygeine products including sanitary Napkins for young ladies.

2017 CONTRIBUTION: Prior to landing in Grenada I had a  stopover in Miami to purchase a large quantity of Personal hygiene supplies to distribute to the young ladies.

GOAL 6: A continual supply of food (to be distributed on a quarterly basis) to as many families as possible.

2017 CONTRIBUTION: The purchase of groceries and non-perishable supplies for a 3 month period to 8 families in desperate need of food for their young infant children.

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN 2017:

• Purchase of clothing for 12 young ladies between 14-17 years of age from the Sweet Water Foundation. Outings for these girls were held at Umbrellas Beach Club at Grand Anse Beach, as well as beach days out at BBC Beach.
• The distribution of 2 prams (donated by Baby Kingdom) to two young families.
• The purchase of a used Nissan Utility driven by our nominated and loyal driver (Mark) to assist during the year by providing food supplies and transport to the families sponsored by Skybridge Capital.

The Fundraiser:

In July 2017, a fundraiser was held at the office of Skybridge Capital Pty Ltd at Strathfield NSW.   This event hosted well over 100 guests who participated in all fundraising events and games of the day.  The charity raffle was supported by gift donations from our 20 major sponsors.  The tasteful display of food and sweets was nothing short of 1st class which was generously prepared and donated by Kristina Yannopoulos of Keik & Ko, family and friends.

Skybridge Capital used some of the funds raised to acquire approximately 50 school back packs filled with all the necessary school stationary and supplies.  A further 4 extra-large Hesham bags comprising of new and used clothing were filled and accompanied me on the long haul to Grenada.  

The Trip

I was fortunate enough in 2017 to put aside 4 weeks to travel to Grenada. The trip was once again an emotional and humbling experience. The cost of travel and accommodation was funded by me personally. No proceeds from the Skybridge Capital charity raising efforts were applied towards meeting any of these costs. 

My trip commenced with a visit to a village of 30 children from 6 months to 15 years of age.  For the most part, these children were in school and required necessary school supplies (kindly donated by Westpac bank) for the new year which was to commence a week after my arrival.  I was assisted in distributing these supplies by a local and well respected resident named kiann. Kiann oversaw the entire distribution process and ensured that each child that attended was furnished with enough school supplies and clothing.  The joy and excitement on their little faces was reward enough for me.

My subsequent stop was to a remote village high in the mountains of Grenada.  Living conditions were akin to that expected within a 3rd world country.  The village comprised of approximately 20 children, some that would not go to school this year because of the lack of school clothing, stationary and other supplies.  These supplies greatly assisted.

After all school and clothing supplies were exhausted, I was fortunate once again to enlist the help of our local and kind friend Mark to drive our hired van to shop for food supplies.   Trolley after Trolley of long lasting food supplies were acquired from a local supermarket.  Mark then drove us from the North to the South of the Island of Grenada distributing these supplies to 8 families.  These families mainly had young infant children that had nothing nutritional to eat for some time.  The food supplies would last an average family for approximately 3 months.  An older style, Used Nissan Utility was acquired to assist with the future delivery of such items.  It was felt that the cost of Van hire was excessive as compared to the cost of an older style Utility.  This automobile will only be driven by Mark and used each and every year that Skybridge visits Grenada. In addition, this van will provide ongoing supplies of food throughout the year in my absence as well as transportation for the ladies that we sponsor.

My final charity activity was two fold.  It included a few afternoon fun events for the Girls from the Sweet Water Foundation.  Lunch at Umbrellas Beach bar and an afternoon of sun at BBC beach.  Some school clothing was provided to these ladies.  It was a great rapport building exercise which has opened the way for further discussions for future support.  The second part of this charity activity focused on taking 3 young ladies to the T.A Marryshow Community College.  I was present to ensure that these 3 fine young ladies enrolled in their respective courses.  Skybridge Capital paid for each of these girls 1st year of education, their entire required book lists, uniforms and basic lap tops.  An undertaking was also given to continue to fund their 2nd and 3rd years respectively.  These ladies had not previously enrolled and with 1 week to go, they accepted our scholarship and as such cemented their successful future. 

Future Commitment:

In 2018, Skybridge has committed to intensifying its charity raising efforts for the Girls of Grenada.  It is our aim to raise further funds, (with an optimistic target of $12,000 for the year) to fund the supplies required to continue our annual support program to existing beneficiaries plus to fund college education for a further 5 young ladies for their 1st year of college.  In addition, Skybridge Capital will increase its food and clothing support to a further 4 NEW families.

Donations are being accepted and greatly appreciated from members of the public, should you feel compelled to support us in this greater cause.

Our bank account details are as follows:

Bank Name:                            Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Name of Account:                 Skybridge Capital Charity

BSB (Bank No):                      062 000

Account Number:                  16426563

Thank you to our sponsors:

And a special thanks to the Keramea Family, Daniel De Zen from Fitness First North Strathfield as well as our family and friends who have assisted us tremendously with our sponsorship.