Zebedee Pitterson is local Unsung Hero

Since 2003, FirstCaribbean International Bank has had a yearly competition in which the public nominates citizens who go above and beyond the call of duty to be active in their community as well as positive role models. And since its sponsor is a bank, there’s a cash prize attached to the winnings. This afternoon FirstCaribbean held an awards ceremony, honoring its 2008 local Unsung Hero Zebedee Pitterson, the owner of Sunny and Tan Bakery, whose charitable works outshined fourteen other nominees.

Irene Hernandez, Local Coord., Unsung Heroes, FirstCaribbean Bank
“What FirstCaribbean is trying to do is to find people in the community who are selflessly giving to others in whatever way they can; their resources, their time, their efforts, anything to help make other people’s lives a bit better. We have a local committee that selects the winners and it is made up of some staff members and some external committee members as well. This year we have Mrs. Sonia Linares from the YWCA, Mr. Philip Balderamos from the UNDP and Mrs. Sandra McKay from Guardian Life and who is associated with the Rotary Club. So the committee gets together and we sit down and we trash out everything. We make phone calls, we check around to see the background of the people to make sure the nominees are real and it’s not somebody that’s fictitious. We do a good background check and we make our selections. The best comes out on top and this year it has been Mister Zebedee Pitterson.”

Zebedee Pitterson, Winner, Unsung Heroes
“Dehn seh dat I dah di only one outta everybody weh do community work, I dah di only one weh tek my own money and time and do it to service to di people dehn. I have been doing fi years I’ve been doing it.”

Jose Sanchez
“How does it feel to win?”

Zebedee Pitterson
“Well, ih feel good because den I get wah twelve thousand dollars cheque but every year I spend ten thousand, eight hundred because I spend at least—we wah put it so, we put it di least, three hundred dollars a week and I sure I spend more dan three hundred dollars a week. So if you spend three hundred dollars a week how much a month that? Twelve hundred right?”

Jose Sanchez
“You plan to keep di money or you plan to donate it? What do you plan to do with it?”

Zebedee Pitterson
“Di money, I noh wah touch dah money. Dat money wah stay in di bank and for instance, I usually buy—no one sack, I wah buy wah three sack ah rice or beans and things like den deh inna lump sum and mek wah cheque and give di ones weh I buy it from. I noh wah touch and I no wah see dah money none at all.”

For the past twelve years Pitterson has donated one hundred loaves of freshly baked bread and buns twice a week to the Salvation Army. Pitterson’s name will be submitted to a Regional Unsung Heroes competition along with the names of local winners from sixteen other countries. The Regional winner will be announced in November and that person will receive an additional fifteen thousand dollars. So far Belize has won four of the five regional awards.