The saying "Every little bit helps" can sometimes ring false when more comprehensive plans for empowering disadvantaged groups of people offer better long-term solutions that scattered donations.
Such is the sentiment behind the Lignum Vitae Center of Hope (LVCH), a nonprofit agency for positive social change in the community through their initiatives for collaboration and education. In order to rally support for the many programs they have their hands in, they will hold a night of beautiful classical music, Strings and Stars on the Harbour.
Featuring gorgeous selections from world renowned classical guitarist Julian Byzantine as well as Adrian D'Aguilar, Kim Welcome and Naomi Taylor, among others, the informal and light-hearted event will be held February 4 at 7:00 p.m. at the stately Lee Shore on the East Bay Street Foreshore.
Strings and Stars on the Harbour will also feature the culinary delights of Citrus Catering and chocolate tasting by "Cocoa Plums" of Freeport.
All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Lignum Vitae Center of Hope so they can continue to help others to help themselves by promoting self-sufficiency and sustainability.
Started in 2010 by 14 founders who had extensive backgrounds in charitable work, LVCH grew out of this sentiment after several of its founders realized a more comprehensive approach was needed in charitable gestures in order to ensure long-term solutions.
"We realized we could always keep handing out but we were enabling people," says Sheila Prichard, a director of LVCH. "We weren't achieving anything and motivating change. So two years ago we thought we needed to come together and find strength in numbers."
"We were perpetuating the problem by enabling them," adds another director, Anne Lever. "Now the whole focus is not giving hand-outs but rather hand-ups."
After spending time on the ground in communities that needed assistance, what many of the center's founding members discovered was not the need for more organizations and nonprofits to help out - indeed, many of them existed for the same causes - but the need to bring them all together in the name of community improvement.
To that end, one of the major projects by LVCH is BahamaVOICE, a directory of charitable organizations in order to promote collaboration and sharing of resources and information. It is only through bringing these groups together through their similar causes, explain the directors, that long-term and significant change can come about.
"What we're hoping to do through our supplement is to bridge these gaps by holding workshops and directing groups to one another who have similar causes," explains Lever. "So instead of us helping a few individuals, we can help groups that help lots of people. We thought we'd inspire or assist what's already there."
In a similar vein, their 4H program brings those together who share the interest of youth development in order to train them in leading workshops and classes to empower young people in the community. This program - which address the four aspects of development: Head, Heart, Hands and Health - has already shown success in various urban renewal centers around New Providence.
"It's all about teaching skills to young people to make good decisions and to be leaders," says Prichard.  "But it's not about telling anyone what to do and how to do it."
Indeed the 4H program allows its members to make major decisions for the group such as electing group leaders - among other exercises - in order to provide educational experiences that form positive attitudes and values - something which they may not get anywhere else.
"The parents and grandparents aren't there at home because they're out working and come home exhausted," says Prichard. "The quality time to help children understand the rules of life and the rules of being part of a community; a lot of that isn't happening anymore. So this program teaches them empowerment and responsibility and possibility."
These are only two programs in a slew of already implemented and planned initiatives by the Lignum Vitae Center of Hope to promote positive social change in Bahamian communities - and they have a long way to go. Yet they believes with help by the community, they can get there, and one way to help is by attending their event Strings and Stars on the Harbour.
"We want it to be an enjoyable evening with a focus on something a little different," says Lever. "To date we have gotten ourselves to where we are through the kindness and assistance by the community. We want to invite people to come on the journey with us for positive social change."
By contributing to the event in their ticket sales, guests can be confident that their donations are not only going to one cause, but are in fact through LVCH reaching many other nonprofit organizations for more substantial and sustainable social changes in the community.
"We're all for doing things differently," says Prichard. "We want to give young people opportunities in this country so we see the potential in partnering with social entrepreneurs in the community. If this country is going to move forward successfully, we need to help young people change."
Tickets for Strings and Stars on the Harbour are $100 and are available at Custom Computers locations in Harbour Bay and Cable Beach or by calling 676-9240, 393-2046 or 324-0690. For more information about the Lignum Vitae Center of Hope, find them at Lignum Vitae Bahamas on Facebook or www.LignumVitaeBahamas.org.

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