#Freeport, GB, August 2, 2019 – Bahamas – Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie Campbell visited Grand Bahama, July 31, 2019 to participate in the presentation of a substantial financial donation to the Grand Bahama Children’s Home.
The Home
was the recipient of over $37,000 from the Alice Sauberli Trust, the remaining
deposit of a long-established fund. During the check presentation,
Minister Campbell said that the government values such partnerships.
“As the
Minister of Social Services, I indicated from day one that no government can do
what it needs to do on its own,” said Minister Campbell.
“And so
we value partnerships – any partnership that results in assisting one person
from falling through the cracks, one person from going over the economic or
financial cliff, one person from crossing the line and getting into trouble –
any partnership that results in any of those situations, is a valuable
partnership to us.”
Minister
Campbell noted that not everyone has the ability or capacity to establish a
financial Trust, but everyone has the ability to play a role (no matter how
small) that adds to the successful running of a place like the Grand Bahama
Children’s Home.
“I’m
aware that the Ministry of Social Services has partnered a long time with the
Grand Bahama Children’s Home. I look at how young former Prime
Minister Hubert Ingraham looked in those photographs during the opening of this
facility in 2001.”
He noted
certain parts of the building still look fairly new — a testament to the
board’s serious commitment as custodians: “As a result, I’m sure that all of it
translates positively into the lives of the children.”
Minister
Campbell said that in his Ministry, there are three things that are very
important to him – children, older persons and those with disabilities.
The
children are important to him, he said, because they represent the future of
the country. Adding that whether they are living at home or in an institution
like the GB Children’s Home, they will all eventually be integrated into the
larger society: “The children belong to all of us adults, so all of us have an
obligation to the children,” said the Social Services Minister.
He
thanked Mr. Brenford Christie, who headed the Alice Sauberli Trust, for his
influence and his assistance to the GB Children’s Home.
“I know
you spoke about not wanting to do things for publicity, and while I respect
your need and want for privacy, I beg your indulgence for allowing us to tell
the public a little about you and about what you have done,” Minister Campbell
told Mr. Christie.
“It is
moments like this that enable us to sensitize, to bring awareness to what is
being done here and to bring those needs to the forefront for other companies,
businesses and individuals who are able to assist, to step up and do their part
to assist places like the Grand Bahama Children’s Home.”
He
expressed the gratitude of his Ministry for the generous donation, adding that
the children who reside at the Home will be the better because of such
generosity.
By Andrew Coakley
Photo Captions:
BIS Photos/Lisa Davis
Header: Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie Campbell (centre) stands with Directors of the Board of the Grand Bahama Children’s Home and one of the Trustees for the Alice Sauberli Trust, Brenford Christie, who presented the funds to the Home on Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Joining the Minister were (from left) Senator Katherine Forbes-Smith, Chairman of the Board of the GB Children’s Home; Mrs. Lillian Quant, Acting Director of Social Services; Mr. Christie; Minister Frankie Campbell; Sheila Johnson-Smith, Director of GB Children’s Home; and Jean Hivert, Treasurer of GB Children’s Home.
First Insert: Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie Campbell received a tour of the Grand Bahama Children’s Home.
Second Insert: During a tour of the Grand Bahama Children’s Home, Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie Campbell is informed about the establishment of the nursery in the Home.