Roach to receive 2009 Regional Unsung Hero Award next week

Dedicated 42-year-old community worker from the Grenadine island of Mayreau will be presented with the 2009 FirstCaribbean International Bank Unsung Hero award at a special ceremony in Barbados next week.{{more}}

John Augustus Roache, familiarly known as “Uncle John”, who emerged as the most impressive among 29 regional finalists, will be presented with the prestigious award on Tuesday, March 23. It is the second year running that a community from St. Vincent and the Grenadines has provided the region with its top Unsung Hero. Roache follows on the heels of 2008 hero Veolant Cupid, another community volunteer credited with touching many lives in the rural community of Lauders. Next week’s ceremony in Barbados, which will also honour the first and second runners-up, will simultaneously launch the 2010 Unsung Heroes programme. Finalists at the local levels have already received awards of US$6,000 each towards the development of their benevolent work.

Regional runners-up will receive an additional US$5,000 each, while the overall hero, Roache, will receive a further US$7,500. FirstCaribbean’s Unsung Heroes programme was piloted in 2003 and has become the flagship for volunteerism in the Caribbean. It’s a region-wide initiative, and all countries in which FirstCaribbean operates participate. The programme represents one of the most unique and useful community support initiatives in the Caribbean today.