United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Margaret Norvell recently stopped in Nassau for the night. Prior to the crew exploring the city and enjoying time away from their ship, they conducted community outreach with the Brighter Bahamas Foundation. After multiple trips to The Bahamas, the crew of USCGC Margaret Norvell realized that they had something to offer the community on their short trips to the various islands.
After reaching out to the Brighter Bahamas Foundation, it wasn't long until USCGC Margaret Norvell was starting a book drive in the Miami area and receiving shipments of children's books to bring to The Bahamas. The Brighter Bahamas Foundation's goal is to provide the children and parents of The Bahamas with access to new or lightly used books. The foundation also encourages parents to read to their children, as this encourages children to read on their own.
The Brighter Bahamas Foundation was founded by Jehan Unwala shortly after the birth of his son, Owen. When Owen was born in Massachusetts, Unwala and his wife were given a book in the hospital they could read to their son. Unwala wanted to give his fellow Bahamian parents and their children the same opportunity. The Brighter Bahamas Foundation is taking the donated books and placing them in areas where people will have access to them and be encouraged to use them.
The fear of the Brighter Bahamas Foundation is that the books will be donated to communities forgotten. Consequently, books are being donated to local growing libraries and provided directly to new parents at hospitals. There are about 26,000 children five years old or younger in New Providence who can benefit from this program. The foundation has plans to expand its distribution to other sites people frequently visit such as doctor's offices and laundry mats.
The foundation also intends to expand to the Family Islands in time. The Brighter Bahamas Foundation said it is grateful for the support it has received from the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other organizations. During this event, USCGC Margaret Norvell offloaded nearly 7,000 donated books for the foundation. The ship, home ported in Miami Beach, Florida, was in Nassau from July 21 to 22.
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