The One Family Programme has received another injection of funds from CIBC Caribbean.
Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, received the donation of $8,000 on behalf of the programme, during a hand over ceremony at the Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael, on Monday. Mr. Humphrey said the funds would assist in educating and training many individuals.
CIBC Barbados’ Country Manager, Kemar Polius, who presented the cheque, stated it was the bank’s second year participating in the One Family Programme.
He expressed pleasure at partnering again with the Ministry, saying: “But going beyond that, going all the way back to COVID [19 pandemic], we would have supported the Ministry in supporting the people in our community.
“This is exceptionally dear to us, as a bank. We are from this community, and we want to give back. So, we are very proud to be a part of this.”
Minister Humphrey, thanking the representative of CIBC Caribbean as well as the team assigned to Government’s One Family Programme, remarked: “This is the second time, officially, in relation to the direct contribution to the One Family Programme, but the Ministry has a relationship with CIBC. Last year, around the time of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, they … donated $8,000, and again today, we are receiving a contribution of $8,000.
“And, we made the commitment, last year, that the funds that come into the Ministry, by any organisation, we would be in a position to trace where those funds went and directly what the funds contributed to.”
He pointed out that with last year’s donation, the Ministry was able to support, through the Barbados Hospitality Institute of the Barbados Community College,15 families “who would have been training in work pertaining to housekeeping and so on”.
Adding that most of those persons are either working or in the process of getting work, Minister Humphrey told Mr. Polius: “So, you were able to directly contribute to empowering a family.”
Also highlighting the importance of training as an essential component to breaking the scourge of poverty, Mr. Humphrey said: “People’s capacity to work. People’s capacity to earn is the fundamental component, along with the many other pillars in the One Family Programme – counselling, healthcare, access to education, housing, many things. But definitely, if you can get more people working, we feel that we would be able to break poverty. And those funds were used to help us empower people to work, give them official training.”
He noted the funds would also be used to assist individuals to enhance their reading skills as they participate in a reading programme, being facilitated by Babb’s Reading Clinic, this summer.
Minister Humphrey pointed out that not only would there be a major focus on training/capacity building, with respect to the One Family Programme, but this would also be the case with the new Social Empowerment Agency and Crime Prevention Programme.
Adding that training is “the critical component to moving the needle forward”, he said: “We are very thankful for this support. It goes directly to our work in the Ministry, and it will change lives in a real and a meaningful way.” (PR/GIS)
Caption: Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey (second from left), receives a donation of $8,000 for the One Family Programme from CIBC Barbados’ Country Manager, Kemar Polius (left) while Project Development Manager, One Family Programme, Nicole Daniel and Deputy Permanent Secretary, Mark Franklin, look on
