Citi Bahamas co-sponsored the Rotary Club of West Nassau’s 3rd Annual Back-to-School Jamboree for the community of Gambier Village, this past Saturday, August 26, 2017. This year the Rotary Club of Old Fort sponsored the event as well. Through this initiative, these organizations together helped approximately 150 children with their back-to-school preparation for the upcoming school year.
During the jamboree, school children received a “back-to-school kit” which included a new backpack, composition books, pens, pencils and other school supplies. Boys also received fresh haircuts and all of the children got free health and dental screenings. The fun-filled day was capped off with music, burgers, hotdogs and drinks, as well as hours of fun in the bouncing castles.
“Citi is pleased to partner with the Rotary Club of West Nassau for the 3rd consecutive year on its Back to School Jamboree,” said Margaret Butler, Citi Country Officer for The Bahamas. “We believe that the key to success in life is to have a solid educational base, so we are committed to advancing this initiative which supports children in the Gambier community and creates excitement about going back to school. Citi believes in engaging the communities that we are a part of, and our staff is eager to get involved in activities that enhance the lives of our youth.”
Citi builds enduring relationships with the community through events such as these with Gambier Village and the Annual Global Community Day, which they sponsor every June, the last one being in partnership with the Bahamas Crisis Center, earlier this year.
The President of the Rotary Club of West Nassau, Mr. Chris Dorsett, shared why his club collaborated with the financial institution. “The Rotary Club of West Nassau has enjoyed a wonderful partnership with Citi for the past 3 years, which has allowed us to assist the Gambier community over that period of time. This is in line with our clubs’ theme for this year ‘Inspiring our youth, building our future.’ It gave me great joy to see the faces of the children, as they enjoyed the activities and received their gifts of school supplies from us. This year, we also had the pleasure of working with the club we sponsored 3 years ago, the Rotary Club of Old Fort.” “As always, we wish to thank the Gambier Village Association for the opportunity to work along with them in identifying children within their community who needed the assistance. The Rotary Club of West Nassau is committed to serving the communities in the western district of the island and this is a tangible way of giving back to our young people, as we continue to grow stronger and serve better.” Mr. Dorsett said.
Ms. Deidree Bain, President of the Rotary Club of Old Fort, further commented that “The members of the Rotary Club of Old Fort recognize that through collaboration with like-minded organizations such as the Rotary Club of West Nassau, and corporate partners like Citi, our community service initiatives can be far reaching. Today’s activities prove that partnerships forged between private sector and civil societies have a lasting impact on our communities. Today we have prepared these bright young minds for the next school year and had fun while doing it!”