First Caribbean salutes “Unsung Heroes”
Do you know any person who has been silently helping others in the community but has not yet been recognised for the work? Well, the First Caribbean International Bank has launched an initiative to reward those ordinary people who work selflessly to build their nations and neighbourhoods. This morning the project dubbed “Unsung Heroes” was unveiled in Belize. The public is invited to submit the names of persons or groups of persons that they believe have been working to make positive things happen for others without giving any thought to what they would get in return. Three finalists will be selected by a local committee and their names will be sent to a regional panel where four winners from the participating countries including Belize, the Bahamas, Barbados and St. Lucia will be selected. This morning News 5 spoke with the project’s national coordinator, Irene Hernandez, and the bank’s country manager, Steve Duncan.
Steve Duncan, Country Mgr., First Caribbean International
“The idea behind it is to give back to the communities in which it operates. When the bank was created last year, the bank made a commitment to the various communities, the regulators, the governments, that it would be giving back to the communities a certain percentage of its profits. So the idea behind this is to have a structured way to do that, which is separate and distinct from the normal donations that the general public would write in and solicit from time to time, which is different and which should continue.”
Irene Hernandez, National Coordinator, Unsung Heroes
“We are looking for Caribbean people, Caribbean nationals. We are looking for people who contribute towards the society, that’s the main one. They have to be people who are low profile, no media coverage before. And we are looking for people who could get good benefit from the cause that they are supporting. So we would like to influence others to maybe donate to that cause as well with our initiative.”
Winners will not simply walk away with plaques, but will also receive financial rewards to be used for their favourite cause. This means four thousand Belize dollars for the local finalists, while the regional winners will each receive seven thousand five hundred U.S. dollars. If you know of any person who fits the description, you are invited to submit their names along with a profile of each candidate. The information can either be hand delivered to the bank’s branch in Belize City on Albert Street or mailed to the bank’s post office box, number three hundred and sixty-three. The local selection will be made on November twenty-fourth.
