The Saint Mary’s College recently rallied support from students and parents in aid of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

The island of Dominica was battered when Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sep. 18. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Saint Mary’s College (SMC) handed over a quantity of goods to NEMO to be sent to Dominica. SMC Principal, Rohan Seon, spoke about the initiative.

“This was spearheaded by one of our teachers Ms. Patricia Mitchell. She started off the whole thing and everybody joined in and we had boys from the entire school, from forms one to five bringing in items for about a two-week period. We ended up with two containers filled, and all of these other items as well were brought in by the students. This is just our way of contributing to the Dominica effort.”

Patricia Anne Mitchell, the SMC teacher who took the lead on the donation drive, said she felt compelled to help, and to inspire others to do so.

“I responded to the call through Facebook, and I saw the need to get involved and to inspire students, so I am very thankful for the efforts that the parents have made. The contributions will go a long way in helping Dominica.”

Student Khalil Atkinson participated in the brief handover ceremony.

“We held a food drive, and we extended an announcement to the parents and students of the school and they came in and helped. Now have a lot of water, a lot of food and toiletries for the citizens of Dominica who are in need right now.”

NEMO’s Deputy Director Julien Dubois received the supplies from the staff and students of Saint Mary’s College.

“I would like to express our sincere gratitude for these donations on behalf of the government and people of Dominica. We will be shipping at the soonest. I would like to thank the students as well and their parents who supported the effort. It is indeed a very great gesture and we hope persons continue to support the effort, as the Dominican people are very much in need.”

Over the past two weeks, Saint Lucia has been mobilizing relief efforts to assist Dominica, and has been serving as an operational base for the relief efforts from neighbouring islands.