Christmas Comes Early For Inner City Kids

NASSAU, Bahamas (December 11, 2014) – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for a group of inner city students.

On Thursday, 30 third graders at Stephen Dillet Primary School got early Christmas gifts from the East Shirley Street staff of Sunshine Insurance.

The group, which was comprised of top performing and most improved students, sat in the school’s auditorium unaware of what was about to transpire.

One-by-one, student helpers assisted Sunshine Insurance officials bring boxes of gifts inside the school. Wrapped inside were DVDs, basketballs, games, coloring books, dolls and puzzles to name a few.

Principal of Stephen Dillet Primary School, Sheila Scavella noted that “Santa Claus has come early to Stephen Dillet.”

“It brought joy to our students and we are truly delighted that Sunshine Insurance Agents and Brokers Ltd. decided to partner with us for such a wonderful project,” said Scavella.

“We are an inner city school with lots of needs and we are thankful that you extended your generosity to our students. We pray God’s blessings and guidance on you and your organization.”

Sunshine Insurance Vice President of Development, Dwayne Swaby said it was during a recent staff meeting that employees pitched the idea of donating Christmas gifts to one of the local schools.

“This was not at the corporate level. This was at the employee level. After discussing it, it just made sense for us to select Stephen Dillet because I already had a connection through Ryan Barnett, the school’s guidance counselor, who also happens to be a member of my club, the Rotary Club of Nassau,” Swaby said.

“Our staff’s only intension was to bring a little sunshine to a few children who might not otherwise have received gifts during the yuletide season. This was our way of giving back to the community and encouraging kids to excel in school. It was very inspiring to see how the gifts provided such joy to the third graders and they were so appreciative, making this a truly touching and personally gratifying experience, to say the least.”

Sunshine Insurance Marketing Coordinator, Rogan Smith noted that Sunshine Insurance has always been very “charity minded” and wanted to give back to inner city youngsters who ordinarily might not have had a very good Christmas.

“It’s been a tough year for a lot of Bahamian families. As a matter of fact, it’s been tough over the past five or six years and this Christmas will be no exception,” Smith said. “I come from a single parent household. We didn’t always have it growing up, so I know how much it meant to me when someone came to my school and donated presents.”

“Children don’t grasp the whole concept of the economy. They don’t understand tough times unless they see other families shopping and wonder why theirs isn’t. This was our small way of giving back. We have a small company, but our workers have big hearts and they jumped on board to help. For some of these children, this may be the only gift they open this holiday season. We are so happy they appreciate it and are grateful to Stephen Dillet for welcoming us.”

Ms. Scavella thanked Sunshine Insurance for choosing her school and encouraged the company to partner with Stephen Dillet in the future.