US organisations donate supplies valued at US$75,000 to SVG

A shipment of medical and educational supplies valued at US$75,000 was last Saturday handed over to several organizations across St Vincent and the Grenadines by the Denton Program of the United States.{{more}}

Shortly after 4 p.m., a U.S. military cargo aircraft filled with the supplies, along with hardware and construction materials, landed at E.T. Joshua Airport.

The Denton program is a commodities transportation programme jointly administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of State and the Department of Defense.

The United States “Good News Project”, along with their local counterpart in St Vincent from the Diocese of Kingstown and other representatives from USAID and the Embassy’s military liaison officer were on hand for the arrival of the humanitarian shipment.

The supplies were provided by people in the United States – many of whom have visited St Vincent and the Grenadines and have volunteered their time and services to making the donations possible, a release from the US Embassy in Bridgetown said.

The recipients include: five health clinics, the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, two children’s homes, 25 schools and other organisations.

Kay Jardine, representative of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kingstown, expressed gratitude for the shipment.

She said the Good News group has been working with St Vincent over the past 30 years, with their most recent visit being in January 2013.

On that trip, Jardine said they constructed two houses for needy persons.

She also thanked the United States Air Force for coordinating and delivering the items and the Society of St Vincent DePaul for their hard work in organizing and distributing the goods.

Commander Michael Long, Senior Defense Official from the US Embassy in Barbados, told the gathering that the Denton program is a “citizen to citizen” effort, which he said is just an example of the partnership and support that the people of the United States have for St Vincent.

A representative from the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital expressed gratitude to the organization for bringing the humanitarian service to the country.

The military cargo plane left here on Monday.