Republic Bank Invests $100M in Youth and Differently Abled

“The new phase of Power to Make A Difference Programme will continue to reach out to and provide new opportunities and avenues for the young, the marginalized, the elderly and will continue to make inroads in holistic healthcare and social empowerment … and pay special attention to the differently abled.”

David Dulal-Whiteway, Managing Director, Republic Bank Limited
(At the launch of Phase II (2009-2013) of the Power to Make A Difference)

Ever mindful of the vast and varied social needs that exist in Trinidad & Tobago, Republic Bank has made another bold and unprecedented move by committing the sum of $100M to social programmes that will enhance the quality of life for young persons and those who are differently abled. At the programme’s recent launch, the bank set out its mutually beneficial partnerships with leading NGOs involved in the alleviation of poverty and training for differently abled children.

This bold move is even more impressive given the state of current global economic forces.

Fruits of past labour

Acknowledging that everyone has a role to play in the social development of our nation, Mrs. Anna-Maria Garcia-Brooks, General Manager, Group Marketing and Communications stated, “civil society and the corporate sector must play its part.” Five years ago the Bank committed $40M which increased to $52M during the period, of which $25.4M was invested in youth programmes, $19.9M in healthcare and poverty alleviation, which assisted thousands to elevate their lives.

Promise for tomorrow

This year Mr. David Dulal-Whiteway, Managing Director of Republic Bank, lamented the lack of facilities available to the differently abled and committed $20M over the next five years for the construction of four facilities to educate and care for differently abled youth. Another $10M will be invested in training programmes for children with visible and hidden disabilities.  The National Centre for Persons with Disabilities in San Fernando is the biggest beneficiary with a $3M Grant for an Agricultural Centre which is currently under construction.

Change for the better

What began as a corporate social responsibility initiative five years ago has developed into a full scale regional programme, in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada and Guyana and has improved the lives of many.  Power to Make A Difference is now a conduit for change in our society by addressing the issues often ignored, and working with NGOs, CBOs, but more importantly working with every citizen who wants to leave the world a better place.  Republic Bank chooses to invest in change agents because “just because it is, does not mean it should be.”

“Let us all follow the old Chinese proverb and seek the happiness of a lifetime, by helping the next generation.  Let us never forget our personal Power to Make a Difference.  Always bearing in mind that: “Just because it is, does not mean that it should be.”

Anna-Maria Garcia-Brooks, General Manager,
Group Marketing and Communications,
Republic Bank Limited

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, March 27, 2008 – 116 young golfers graduated from the Republic Bank Chaguaramas Junior Golf Clinic on March 15 at the Chaguaramas Golf Club. This was the Bank’s first clinic for 2008.

They closed the clinic, with the customary Drive, Chip, Pitch and Putt Tournament, in which the youngsters put into practice, the skills they learned over the previous few weeks.

Lynessa Allsop took the first place trophy in the 4 Holes Girls category followed in second and third place by Natalie Webster and Jamila Bernard respectively. In the 4 Holes Boys category, Yaseen Allsop placed first, while Xavier Sylvester took second place and Sidiq Forde took third. Jevon hills topped the 9 Holes Boys category, with Christian Townsend taking second and Shaquille Williams taking third.

At the ceremony, Paula Baldwin, the Bank’s Regional Manager East, Central and Tobago, congratulated and encouraged the golfers saying, “we are proud of the high level of determination and ability that you have displayed over the last eight weeks, we hope that you can carry the level even higher in the years to come…reflect on what you have accomplished with a sense of pride and satisfaction that only comes from doing your best; from giving your all.”

Republic gladly sponsors these clinics as part of its Power to Make a Difference commitment to encourage youth development through sport. The Bank is proud of the young golfers and encourages them to continue to strive for excellence.

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, March 10, 2008 – During their time in the twin islands, Britain’s Prince Charles paid a visit to Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago (YBTT) of which Republic Bank is a sponsor.

His Royal Highness met some of the sponsors of YBTT at a function in Tacarigua held by the organisation. The YBTT acts as a lender of last resort for Trinidad and Tobago youths aged 18 to 35 who are unemployed and trying to start their own business. Since their launch in January 2001, over 120 businesses have been approved for young persons in a wide cross section of business.

The Bank has been a supporter of YBTT since 2003 as part of its Power to Make a Difference commitment to youth empowerment.

The programme’s implementation was an initiative of the British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency Mr. Peter Harborne. It is an affiliate of the joint venture between The Prince’s trust and the Prince of Wales Business Leaders’ Forum – Youth Business International (YBI).

Investment in the young people of our nation remains a priority for Republic and it shall continue to collaborate with organisations like YBTT to help the youth of the nation reach their full potential.

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, March 7, 2008 –The Skeene/Hyacenth Football Club (SKHY FC) Under-15 team will compete in the prestigious Dallas Cup Soccer Tournament in Dallas, Texas, and will be toting their gear in duffel bags sponsored by Republic Bank. The tournament takes place from March 13 to 24, 2008.

The Club’s motto is “Learning is Winning” and they hope that through this venture, they will be able to instill this philosophy in their young trainees. As such, Republic has chosen to support the club as part of its Power to Make a Difference commitment to youth empowerment through sport.

The 18-player team  with members ranging in age from 13-15, will go up against teams from the United States of America, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, England, the Caribbean and Latin America, to name a few.

The Bank has worked with the Skeene Hyacenth Football Institute for the last twelve years to host the Republic RightStart Youth Cup Football Camps. Coaches of the Skeene-Hyacinth Football Institute instruct participants of the weeklong camps, which take place twice annually.  The camps usually feature close to 120 young footballers – male and female and the goal is to develop a keen and healthy competitive spirit among the youngsters. Some of the traveling team members are past participants of these camps.

One of football’s premier international events, the Dallas Cup is a highly competitive and selective event that caters for both professional and amateur football clubs from around the world and is in line with the recommendations of both the United States Development Academy Program and the United States Soccer Best Practice.

The experience is intended to provide an invaluable amount of exposure to international soccer on a grander scale. Republic wishes the young footballers the best of luck in the tournament.

Located in Chaguanas, Arya Pratinidhi Sabha is a Hindu organisation that has been in existence for over 60 years and works tirelessly to improve the community by attending to the needs of the indigent. Under its novel social investment initiative, Power to Make A Difference, Republic has contributed $450,000 in support of the construction of a shelter for orphaned children in the area of Chaguanas.

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, February 1, 2008 – The Arima Race Club can now maintain its turf track, thanks to Republic Bank. Republic contributed over $300,000 towards the purchase of equipment as part of its Power to Make a Difference commitment to promoting cultures and safeguarding traditions.

The funds were used to purchase nine pieces of equipment, including a John Deere tractor, an Alamo brush cutter and a Bomford four-ton tipping trailer. This is the same type of equipment used for new turf tracks such as Fairgrounds Race Course in New Orleans and Santa Rosa in California.
Horse Racing has been an integral part of our twin island culture for the last 180 years and Republic has been associated with Horse Racing in Trinidad and Tobago for over forty years, tracing back to its days as Barclays Bank Trinidad and Tobago Limited and even before.

Republic’s support of Horse Racing in the past includes the sponsorship of the Republic Bank Race Day Caribbean Champion Stakes in 1994 and later in 2000 with the Republic Bank Turf Classic for the inauguration of the Republic Bank Turf Track. The Club was in need of the equipment to ensure the upkeep of the track, and the Bank was pleased to support.

In March, Republic will return to the track with its third annual Republic Bank Champagne Stakes, where a purse of $200,000 will be awarded for the feature race. This along with the sponsorship of the track and its maintenance is merely a continuation of the Bank’s commitment.
Republic is delighted to have the opportunity to support the enhancement of this well-established tradition.

Over 120 Junior Golfers gathered on Sunday November 2 at the Chaguaramas Golf Club to close the 3rd Republic Bank Chaguaramas Junior Golf Clinic for 2007. The clinic ended with the customary “Drive, Chip, Pitch & Putt” Tournament in which the youngsters competed using the golfing fundamentals they were taught every Saturday since September 29.

In the 4 Holes Girls category, the 1st place trophy went to Zoe Sudan, with second and third place going to Brittany Balfor and Sherisse Hills respectively. In the 4 Holes Boys category Christan Harewood took the trophy with Xavier Sylvester coming in second and Sadiq Forde in third place. Lynessa Allsop won the Graduate 6 Holes Girls group, followed in second and third place by Sabrina Mitchell and Ysabella Lawrence respectively. In the Graduate 6 Holes Boys group, the first place trophy went to Jabari Wyke with Justin Joseph in second place and Jordan Rodriguez in third. Nyathaa Williams won first place in the 9 Holes Girls Category and Lachelle Williams won second place. In the 9 Holes Boys category, Kayode Small claimed the first place trophy and Shaquille Williams and Jonathan Greenidge taking second and third place respectively.

Republic Bank Project Manager, Project WINS, Michelle Palmer-Keizer, while addressing the golfers at the ceremony said, “In learning the basics of golf, you have also learned some of the basics of life, since anything worth doing is certainly worth doing well and as you have heard, hard work yields success…Your accomplishments are proof of what you can achieve by tapping into the limitless potential inside you. Today is only the beginning.”

The Bank’s sponsorship of these clinics is part of its aim to encourage youth development through sport with their Power to Make a Difference corporate social responsibility initiative. Republic Bank is proud of the young golfers and encourages them to continue to strive for excellence.

Republic Bank once again concluded another of its annual Laventille Netball Leagues at the Jean Pierre Complex on November 21. Now in its 13th year, the Republic Bank Laventille Netball League is one of the ways in which the Bank seeks to empower individuals and build communities as a main objective of its Power to Make a Difference programme.

In the Beginners category, Hillgirls took first place with 14 points, followed by Harlem with 10 points and Ballmaster in third place with eight points. Survivors led the B Division with 7 points and UWI came in second with 6 points. Harlem moved up in the Inters category gaining 12 points and taking first place. Honore and Curepe followed, both with 8-point scores and with averages of 1.18 and 1.14 respectively.

In the A Division, Transcend and Horizon also gained 8-point scores and took second and third places with their respective averages of 1.33 and 1.212. This left the first place title to Togetherness who had a 10-point score.

During her remarks at the awards ceremony, Channel Management Marketing Manager, Ayannah Mills, said, “I am pleased to say that the Republic Bank Laventille Netball League programme continues to attract and produce outstanding and accomplished young sportswomen, who are community pillars – unyielding, powerful and exemplary…Your work, your skills and your lives are the very things of which role models are made. And we can certainly agree that if there is one thing that our society needs is more positive role models.”

Republic Bank is proud to be both a sponsor and partner for the league and encourages all the competitors to keep striving for excellence.

Port of Spain, Trinidad, November 28 2007: “While we might all be equal in the eyes of God, we are not all equal in the eyes of man.  And we are not all endowed with equal opportunities.  Some have been blessed with a lot and some have been blessed with very little. It is how we use the little and the plenty that matters.”

General Manager, Group Marketing and Communications, Anna-Maria Garcia-Brooks offered these words of insight into the philosophy behind Republic’s social investment at the launch of the fifth phase of Republic’s Power to Make A Difference – the Bank’s five-year, $40 million commitment – at Cinema Two MovieTowne on Wednesday, November 28.

The fifth phase marks the reaffirmation of the Republic’ on-going commitment to social empowerment with an investment of TT$7.5 million in a variety of NGO’s and social-based initiatives throughout the nation.

“Together, as a team, the NGO community and Republic Bank have been changing lives, giving voices to the voiceless, hope to the disenfranchised and making a positive difference in Trinidad and Tobago, and through our subsidiaries in other Caribbean territories.  Together, we shall continue to do the right thing and to nurture true potential, Garcia-Brooks added.

In addressing the intimate audience at the launch, Managing Director, David Dulal-Whiteway unveiled plans and outlined the direction of this final phase of Power to Make A Difference.

“In this fifth phase, spanning the 2007 – 2008 period we shall invest over $7.5 million as a tangible and worthwhile overture in youth empowerment, poverty and social malaise alleviation and national development through education.”

“With over 170 years experience of working together with the community, we stand ready once again to face the tasks at hand with confidence, faith and camaraderie as our impetus,” Dulal-Whiteway added.

Led by a $750,000 contribution to the University of the West Indies’ construction of the U.W.I Centre for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation, an initiative aimed at bolstering the nation’s small and medium enterprise sector through comprehensive education, Republic intensified its commitment to the empowerment through education.

Through contributions to the Butler Institute’s Literacy Programme of $200,000 and the Cotton Tree Foundation Homework Programme of $84,000, Republic redoubled its efforts to increase the nation’s literacy level.

Republic further broadened its role in preserving the nation’s cultural and music traditions in schools with a $450,000 contribution to Bishop’s High School in Tobago in aid of the construction of a Creative Arts Centre which will feature facilities for teaching Drama, Art, Music and Dance.

L’Hospice Spaccapietra, celebrating it 150th Anniversary, also received $ 200,000 in aid of much-needed renovations and the National Muslim Women’s Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago received $37,000 in aid of the construction of a new secretariat.

In adhering to a more proactive approach toward social empowerment, Republic honed its focused on substance-abuse rehabilitation and social outreach with a $100,000 contribution to the New Life Ministries Drug Rehabilitation Centre; a $200,000 contribution to Heart Touch Ministries, a subset of past recipient the Loveuntil Foundation; and Bridge of Hope; and a $100,000 contribution to the construction of the Assumption Church Parish Centre – a respite for the community’s senior citizens.

Education continued to figure greatly in this year’s fifth phase of Power to Make a Difference with Republic contributing $450,000 to the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha Trinidad Inc.

Located in Chaguanas, this Hindu organisation has been in existence for over 60 years; working tirelessly to improve the community by attending to the needs of the indigent. One of their special projects in going forward is the construction of a shelter for orphaned children.

Republic also stepped up its commitment to the nation’s youth with contributions of $100,000 to the renovation of the St. Jude’s School for Girls Mt. Carmel Hostel; and $100,000 the Islamic Home for Children to assist with the renovation and repair of their kitchen.