This summer, as part of a commitment to positive youth development, CIBC FirstCaribbean supported three of the nation’s outstanding and long-lasting summer youth programs: The Royal Bahamas Police Force’s North-eastern Summer Camp, The Royal Bahamas Defence Force Summer Camp, and Boys’ Brigade 23rd Company’s Annual Summer Camp.
Youth development is a major pillar of CIBC FirstCaribbean’s philanthropic mandate. The three camps, which when combined served over 1,000 children, have a long history of hosting children from all backgrounds, instilling them with discipline and values which will help them to prosper throughout life.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force Summer Camp, now in its 8th year of operation, is a multi-faceted camp where the children learn martial arts, swimming and crafts, amongst other activities. Senior Lt. Origin Deleveaux, an Assistant Training Officer with the force who has been involved with the camp for 4 years, says that the 600-child camp is aimed at creating better citizens.
“The camp raises the awareness of what it means to be loyal to our country, sharpens their skills and competencies and ultimately the kids leave better than they came. Really the camp is designed to empower the campers, making them better citizens.”
Lt. Deleveaux continued, “We welcome this partnership with CIBC FirstCaribbean and thank them. The funds will really help to defray a lot of the costs involved with the camp. The students are accepted free of charge with the exception of a small $20 registration fee which also includes the tee shirts given to the kids. We are looking to improve our camp and with CIBC on board we know that we can.”
Police Constable Alecia Whyte, who has been involved with the Police Force summer camps for 3 years, echoed Lt. Deleveaux’s sentiments, saying that summer programmes for young people are a critical part of building a better future.
“It is incredibly important for the community especially now with the crime rate being so high,” said Constable Whyte. “We fed the kids every day for 6 weeks. We went on fieldtrips… everything is free to the children. We had a discipline section where we taught them good behaviour and conflict resolution. This programme enables us to take the kids off the street. It helps the kids and the parents. The North-eastern summer camp and Wulff Rd. Station really appreciates the donation from CIBC FirstCaribbean. The funds went a very long way.”
Captain Henry Curry of Boys Brigade’s 23rd company says that his organisation’s camp combines discipline, spirituality, and comradery to create a positive environment.
“The donation helped us with our camp in Treasure Cay Abaco this month. The camp allowed the boys to experience the comradery of Boys Brigade and taught them to work and live together in harmony. There is a large spiritual aspect, with daily bible studies. And this year for the first time, we did some fishing. The 23rd Boys Brigade Company of St. Barnabas and our Chaplain Basil Tynes would like to thank CIBC for their donations towards the camp. We hope to continue to work with them in the future.”
The donations were made as part of the community outreach of the FirstCaribbean International Comtrust Foundation, a Caribbean-wide charitable Trust which ensures that 1% of the Bank’s annual post-tax profits reach important causes. Focus on the youth is a major component of CIBC First Caribbean’s four-pronged social impact policy which also promotes health & wellness, staff volunteerism, and environmental causes.
Defence Force: CIBC FirstCAribbean Financial Controller Stacia Williams (Center) presents a donation to Senior Lt. Origin Deleveaux and Sub Lieutenant LaToya Nottage of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Summer Camp
RBPF Camp: CIBC FirstCAribbean Financial Controller Stacia Williams presents to Police Constable Alecia Whyte of The Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Northeastern Summer Camp.
Brigades: Captain Henry Curry receives a donation from CIBC FirstCaribbean for the Boys Brigades Summer Camp, presented by District Manager Inger Johnson.
About CIBC FirstCaribbean
CIBC FirstCaribbean is the largest, regionally-listed bank in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean serving over 500,000 accounts in 17 markets, through 2,900 staff, across 100 branches and offices. The bank offers a full range of market-leading financial services in: Corporate and Investment Banking, Treasury Sales and Trading, Retail Banking, Wealth Management, Small Business and Credit Cards.
CIBC FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC (TSX, NYSE: CM) is a leading North American financial institution serving clients in Canada and around the world. Through three distinct business lines, Retail and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Wholesale Banking, CIBC provides a full range of products and services to almost 11 million individual, small business and commercial banking clients and meets the financial needs of corporate and institutional clients.
For more information about CIBC FirstCaribbean, visit www.cibcfcib.com
