Commonwealth Bank donates back to school supplies

Tue, Aug 18th 2009, 12:00 AM

NASSAU, Bahamas -- With weeks to go until thousands of school children fill school yards, hallways and classrooms, Commonwealth Bank repeated its role as education?s guardian angel, presenting the Ministry of Education with 10,000 backpacks.

The all-Bahamian bank?s donation will give some 10,000 students a tangible boost, sending them back to school with backpacks packed with school supplies and providing their teachers and classrooms with tools from projectors to laptops.

This is the third year the leading bank donated backpacks filled with a variety of items including rulers, composition books, pencils and pens to the Ministry of Education for distribution among students entering grades 1-12 in New Providence and the Family Islands.

The bank also donated laptops and LCD projectors ? and for the third consecutive year, the Ministry of Education thanked the all-Bahamian bank and applauded its efforts.
?On behalf of the Government of The Bahamas, the Ministry of Education, the Department of Education and the students and teachers of The Bahamas, I would like to express the most profound gratitude to Commonwealth Bank, the nation?s premier bank,? said Minister of Education Carl Bethel declared during the presentation at the bank?s newest branch, a full service-banking facility on Prince Charles Drive that will open August 31.

?Once again Commonwealth Bank demonstrated the kind of visionary corporate leadership we encourage and hope that others would follow.?

Calling it a ?sterling donation? that will assist students and teachers, the Education Minister said the laptops can make a huge difference in a child?s attention. ?Children love computers and if we can make a computer more than a glorified toy, more than a glorified way to communicate, if we can make it a tool that provides a way to gain instruction, it can be one of most powerful tools in the arsenal of education materials,? he said.

According to Commonwealth Bank Chairman T.B. Donaldson, CBE, the annual contribution to education reflects the bank?s commitment to youth development. ?Commonwealth Bank, the education bank, is all about creating a firm learning foundation for our country?s youth,? said Donaldson, ?and was the driving force behind formalized certification for Bahamians in banking.?

?Commonwealth Bank?s investment and commitment to education has been long-standing and broad-based. We are proud to know that through our endeavours we have made an impact on the lives of students from kindergarten through Grade 12 and onto undergraduate studies at the college level,? noted Donaldson, referring to the bank?s separate COB scholarship program. ?Over the past three years, our back-to-school program has donated nearly three quarters of a million dollars in school supplies and the latest in technological teaching tools.?

Those packages ? the school supplies and teaching tools ? will be distributed to 38 schools in 17 islands from Grand Bahama and Abaco in the north to Acklins in the south as well as going to children?s homes and the Department of Social Services. ?It is our hope that the students benefiting from this substantial donation will take full advantage of the educational opportunities provided to them so that this donation translates into a sound investment in our nation?s future,? said Mr. Donaldson.

Commonwealth Bank is The Bahamas? most widely-held public company with some 7,000 shareholders, 10 branches in New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco and more than $1.3 billion dollars in assets. The company?s corporate giving, with emphasis on youth development and education, also includes a number of annual college scholarships.

Photo: Commonwealth Bank Readies 100,000 Students for Back-to-School With a Donation to the Ministry of Education. Pictured l-r: Commonwealth Bank?s President & CEO William B. Sands, Vice President Credit Risk Denise Turnquest, Minister of Education Hon. Carl Bethel, Chairman T.B. Donaldson, Vice President Operations Mavis Burrows and Director of Education Lionel Sands.

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