Graduation held for students of the Youth Employability Skills Summer Program 2019

The Mustique Charitable Foundation (MCF) In Collaboration with the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) Division of Technical and Vocational Education (DTVE) recently held a graduation ceremony for SVGCC-DTVE Youth Employability Skills Summer Program 2019.

This is the second year that The MCF has funded the Youth Employability Skills Summer Program at the SVGCC-DTVE. Last year, there were 90 and this year 92 participants, for a total of 182 at-risk youths being taught skills that enable them to seek and find employment. Upon graduation, they receive start-up kits consisting of the tools of their new trade such as a carpentry set or sewing machine.

Roger Pritchard, Chairman of The Mustique Charitable Foundation commented: “These young men and women are moving into a market that needs and will absorb their skills and this will continue the economic expansion so vital to the long-term success of St Vincent. MCF wishes them all the very best.”

The Mustique Charitable Foundation is dedicated to helping those who are in need in St Vincent and the Grenadines. MCF focuses on three areas: vocational scholarships, pediatric healthcare, and literacy. In its four years of operations, MCF has contributed close to EC$2,200,000 to fund 520 vocational scholarships; 18 surgical teams providing diagnoses/surgeries on over 600 Vincentian children; the purchase of 11,600 books for school libraries in St Vincent; and literacy links covering 89 schools and some 19,300 students.

Beyond the statistics, there is story after story of a child who can rise out of a wheelchair and lead a normal, happy childhood after a life-changing operation, a young starting reader where the doors of literacy have been opened and the light of opportunity begins to shine in, a jobless and dispirited youth given the opportunity to learn a skill and feel the vital surge of pride in accomplishment so necessary for a productive life. These stories are worth repeating.

The Mustique Charitable Foundation is a registered U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is funded by the Mustique community of homeowners, renters, and friends.