Editor: There is something called chance and then again there is something you call blessings. I think I had a chance meeting that turned into a blessing. Sometime in July 2015, I sat in a van and it picked up a few persons dressed in similar T-shirts. One of them sat next to me and we began chatting, only to find out that I was chatting with a very popular name, the lady Roxie Irish. I had always heard of her and her group in New York and had seen her sister play netball quite a few times. We spoke about what we do (our organizations) and we decided to become friends on Facebook.

I can’t remember all of our conversation, but it was very enlightening to know that so many persons in the diaspora work hard to contribute to the development of our beautiful homeland. We had not spoken for awhile, but like about 2-3 weeks ago, she messaged me on Facebook to ask me if we were still planning on hosting our annual Christmas party, to which I responded yes, of course. Then she told me that her group was packing up some stuff to ship to us and she wanted to know. Soon after, on the 15th of December, we received a barrel filled with toys. So, on behalf of the Lazaras Foundation and the children who attended the Christmas party at the Richland Park Government School on Saturday, 19th, December, we would like to publicly express our sincerest thanks to the members of the United Vincie Cultural Group of Brooklyn. We are very grateful and we know that children were extremely happy to receive these gifts. Hats off to you all. Looking forward to a continued positive relationship.

Kudos to all organizations like this who do their part in uplifting our country, thanks so much to you guys and to all the persons who go out and support them when they have activities. Blessings to you all and may you all have a bright and prosperous 2016.

Ideisha Jackson