Glynn-Hamlet returns with more knapsacks

For the seventh year in a row, students in St Vincent and the Grenadines have benefitted from the kindness of benefactors in Ontario and Montreal, Canada.{{more}}

Coordinated by Yvette Glynn-Hamlet, a Bequia native, the Canada-based Knapsack Project has been distributing knapsacks stocked with school and personal supplies to less fortunate students around the country. The project is headquartered in Ontario, Canada, where Glynn-Hamlet resides, and is made possible through the generous support of her colleagues, relatives and friends, who pack knapsacks with supplies for distribution to students in St Vincent and Bequia.

The Knapsack Project, which began in 2007 with an initial distribution of 169 knapsacks, has been steadily increasing its impact over the years. In 2012, 325 knapsacks were distributed to eight schools and in the 2013 edition, 376 knapsacks have been distributed to 12 schools, bringing the total of students benefitting from the project so far to 2,341.

This year, knapsacks were distributed to students at Emmanuel High School, Evesham Government School, St Joseph’s Convent – Marriaqua, Park Hill Government School, Richland Park Government School, Kingstown Anglican School, Kingstown Government School, Questelles Government School, Leeward District SDA School, Bequia Anglican Primary School, Paget Farm Government School and Bequia Sunshine School for Children with Special Needs. Distributions took place in St Vincent on May 30 and 31, and in Bequia on June 4.

In St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Knapsack Project partners with the Ministry of Education to identify students in need and distribute the knapsacks. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Girlyn Miguel has been a key ally of the project over the years. Speaking of the project, Glynn-Hamlet expressed her deepest gratitude for the Minister’s personal commitment to and involvement with the project, noting that the reach and impact of the Knapsack Project has been significantly enhanced as a result of their close collaboration.

Key associates in the delivery of the 2013 project were Marcelle Glynn-Jarvis, Jasmine Quammie, Wayne Olsen, and Lucien and Brent Glynn of Canada; Carmen Fitzpatrick of the USA; and Myrna Bramble, Bentley, Emmanuel, Nicole and Melene Glynn of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Observing that the future depends on what we do in the present, Glynn-Hamlet noted that, with the help of God, she will continue striving to touch the lives of children in St Vincent and the Grenadines in a positive way, in the hope that the beneficial influences they have now will help shape their future in constructive ways.