A missed opportunity for Abaco's power
The Christmas season is a good time to reflect on our various
volunteer organizations that reach out into the community in various
ways. They should all be commended for their charitable work.
The Abaco Cancer Society is raising funds during December through its
new outlet by Mangoes with an upscale collection of donated items for
sale. It uses the funds to assist cancer patients with travel and
other expenses. It continues to operate a thrift shop behind Abaco
Groceries that volunteers open each Saturday morning.
A holiday tradition of Rotary Club is for its members to stand outside
prominent businesses, usually grocery stores, ringing a bell for
donations. The money collected is used to purchase food for needy
families which the members will be giving out over the holidays.
Heal Our Land and the Red Cross are two more organizations that
collect donations, food and clothing and distribute to needy families.
The Scurvy Few Motorcycle Club collects money and toys every year for
its Toys for Tots program. The club just donated about 450 new toys
to Social Services for distribution to needy families throughout
Abaco. This is before the members have held their annual Christmas
benefit that will bring in more new toys. This event includes a visit
from Santa.
We have several animal rescue groups devoted mainly to dogs and cats.
They are located in Marsh Harbour, Treasure Cay, Green Turtle Cay,
Man-O-War and Elbow Cay. These groups raise funds to finance spay and
neuter programs and pay the expense of shipping animals to homes in
the U.S.
Hope Town’s Wyannie Malone Museum strives to preserve the town’s
heritage and genealogy. With town and school volunteers it stages
Heritage Day each spring that highlights the town’s history.
The Albert Lowe Museum along with the Island Roots Heritage Festival
Committee, both in Green Turtle Cay, work to highlight and keep their
island’s rich history alive through displays and cultural events.
Two scholarship organizations raise funds to send Abaco students away
for further education, Abaco Pathfinders in Central Abaco and the
Abaco Scholarship Fund based in Treasure Cay. Both provide partial
funding for academic and vocational training.
The Bahamas Lighthouse Preservation Society in Hope Town is dedicated
to keeping the Elbow Cay Light Station and other lighthouses in The
Bahamas working as originally intended on kerosene. Members have gone
to great effort to secure parts for the lantern, some even specially
fabricated. The silk mantles are made in China. An electric lightbulb
is brought into service when the lighthouse keepers run out of
mantles.
The recent Big Hill Box Cart races in Hope Town were viewed by the
spectators as a fun day, but the underlying goal was to raise funds
through entry fees, food and drink sales for financing Hope Town’s
Junior Sailing Program.
Hope Town’s volunteer BASRA organization is dedicated to marine rescue
operations. The BASRA volunteers serve in several other capacities as
they double as firefighters and EMS personnel.
The North Abaco Crash and Rescue based in Treasure Cay is staffed with
volunteers and supported financially by the homeowners there. These
volunteers were recently called to night duty to extract the four
crash victims on the highway south of the Treasure Cay airport. That
was a most unpleasant task.
Many of Abaco’s communities have volunteer fire brigades that respond
to calls day or night. During the recent fire at the BEC plant, three
engines responded from Marsh Harbour. Being unsure of the extent of
the fire, additional engines were called from Treasure Cay and
Casuarina Point. These are all heavily supported by community
donations. The Marsh Harbour brigade does receive a stipend from local
government.
Several towns have volunteer civic associations that assist with town
maintenance or improvements which may augment local government
efforts, or they become involved with projects beyond the normal scope
of local government. Local government is not allowed to impose taxes
or otherwise collect funds. These civic organizations have found
innovative ways to collect donations and apply the funds to town
improvements or services. The association in Sandy Point constructed
the town’s community center that also serves as a hurricane shelter.
The Man-O-War association maintains the ocean front baseball field.
Several Abaco events are a collaborative effort with seed money
advanced by government and volunteers working to see that the event is
successful. Four of the larger events receiving sponsorship funding by
government are 1) the annual February Junkanoo festival in Marsh
Harbour, 2) Island Roots festival in Green Turtle Cay, 3) the annual
Christmas Festival in Marsh Harbour, 4) Regatta Time in Abaco held
during early July. Government participation may be with cash or
services such as providing the police band or installing overhead
flood lights.
Added to this list are the lesser known sporting associations which
engage the youth in various activities such as swimming, basketball,
volleyball, Little League Baseball, Youth in Action and other
volunteer sporting associations dedicated to our youth.
This is just a sample of the Abaco volunteer groups dedicated to
various causes. Some organizations offer a tangible benefit, a
scholarship for instance, while others provide the labour to offer a
service such as firemen. Some organizations, Regatta Time in Abaco is
one, that stage an event to promote tourism.
The volunteers that organized the recent Christmas Festival did a
magnificent job of setting the stage for 11 hours of entertainment,
food booths and craft stalls. This event gives local craftsmen and
entertainers a venue for displaying their talents.
The next two major events are the New Year’s Day Junkanoo in Green
Turtle Cay and the Junkanoo Festival in late February, two days of
evening parades with schools rushing on Friday followed by the adults
rushing the following evening.
Nearly all of the Abaco organizations mentioned here and the many
others not mentioned would welcome additional people to assist,
whether with expertise or time or funding.
Abaco has a tradition of volunteers contributing in many different
ways to improve their communities. Volunteer service is particularly
appreciated at this time of the year when giving ones time
demonstrates a personal commitment.
Many individuals contribute significantly to their communities to make
them more beautiful, to provide services, to assist with youth
programs but these persons are often not recognized for their work.
This is the time of the year to give these people recognition.