L.A. Consortium donates to AIDS programme

The Living with Hope Radiothon and Concert held in August was one of the biggest fund raising drives ever held to help persons living with HIV and AIDS. While the event did not quite reach its goal of one hundred thousand dollars it did receive pledges of over ninety-seven thousand, with actual collections exceeding eighty-five thousand dollars. Today with a donation of ten thousand one hundred and fifty dollars the Living with Hope Foundation is about to reach its goal. The cheque comes courtesy of the Consortium for Belizean Development of Los Angeles which collected the money from Belizeans and friends living in the United States. The Consortium’s president and secretary told News 5 that they were overwhelmed by the support.

Lavern Smith, Secretary, Consortium

?The Consortium is not just in Los Angeles; it?s a national organisation in the United States. What we do is any and everything that we can do to help Belize and Belizeans here in Belize and abroad.?

Verona Burks, Consortium president

?And we decided after looking at the statistics ourselves that it was something that we must pay attention to and we must try to get together with Living with Hope and try to become some kind of a network for them in the United States. Because I believe that without the help of Belizeans abroad to bring attention to this problem in Belize that Belize will have a problem. And it is our responsibility living abroad to do something to help to make this problem eliminated which will be a test as itself. We need everyone?s participation.?

Earlier today Lavern Smith and Verona Burks were at the Hattieville government primary school where they provided lunch for four hundred students. The women also spent time at the primary school in Gales Point Village.