Posted by Briland Modem News on November 26, 2001 at 17:07:25:
Sweet Thanksgiving Treats For Charity
By JANICE MATHER
Guardian Features Reporter
For many, Thanksgiving is a special time to give thanks - which they eagerly do, stuffing their greedy
faces on slabs of juicy turkey, dollops of stuffing, and chunks of fatty desserts. But for the kindhearted
few, those selfish thanks are brushed aside, and it's simply a time for giving.
Subway, along with its suppliers Island Wholesale, The d'Albenas Agency Ltd., and Caribbean
Bottling, opted for the selfless route, and showered a pair of struggling charities with boxes of
Thanksgiving Day treats.
"With the hurricane just passing, and with so much people out of jobs, and so much things happening
in society, you need to be able to give back into the community," reasons Janet Farrington, Subway
operations manager. "We're gonna try our best to make it an annual thing."
She, along with other Subway staff, and representatives from the three suppliers, presented
representatives from the Bahamas Red Cross and The Salvation Army with a cheque, platters of subs,
cases of sodas, boxes of rice, and stacks of canned goods at the restaurant's Harbour Bay branch.
For the Red Cross, the helping hand came just a few days after a slap in the face, when vandals made off
with food slated for its meals-on-wheels programme.
"We are very thankful," said Dorothy King, Red Cross deputy director. "We were vandalized on
Monday, and now Thursday, three days later, somebody's giving us some assistance. I think it's great."
Says King, the foodstuffs will be divided up between the meal programme, which serves about 120
plates each day, and families in Andros.
"It means a lot, cause right now, we are on a heavy overdraft," says King. "Our funds are very depleted,
and we are most grateful to these sponsors for thinking of us at this time. This will go a long way - a
very long way."
The Salvation Army plans to distribute its portion of the stocks a bit differently. While their platter of
sandwiches went to pupils at The School For The Blind, the other goods will be tucked safely away for
later generosity.
Though the army also provides weekday meals, its cases of drinks and dry goods are to be saved for its
Christmas hampers, which are filled with food and distributed to needy families.
"I'm breathing easier now," says Major Raphel Mason, of the Salvation Army, who hopes to prepare as
many as 500 hampers next month. "'Cause I've actually got something to give to the folk. There's
affluence here - but trust me, there is poverty here."
The donation came in good time for The Salvation Army, which, Mason says, had been contemplating
cutting back on its services because of the tight economic situation.
"I am absolutely thrilled," says Mason. "Somebody once said 'The Salvation Army is known as the
army of the helping hand.' I'm quite happy to say, we've got two hands stretched out - today, one hand
is stretched out to receive, so that the other hand, in turn, can stretch out to give. When corporate and
business people can do things like this, it empowers us."
The Briland Modem would like to congratulate the d'Albenas Agency on their continued generosity. The d'Albenas Agency continues to support the Briland Community Computer Center with donations of much-needed educational software.