"Fund-raising" and "Friend-raising"

Monday, March 15

As it turned out, Sunday was National Heroes Day in SVG and so the holiday was deferred to the next day. As on previous visits, we made our way into the Harbour to watch the School Sports Competition on the Clive Tannis Playing Field. To say that this is a big day on Bequia is an understatement, as most of the island’s inhabitants gather in the covered hillside grandstand to cheer on their favourite track and field athletes, with the fervour of spectators at the Olympic Games!

The previous day, we had decided to try hosting a used book and toy sale on the basketball court, near the playing field, as both a fund-raising and “friend-raising” venture (i.e. to promote the Mission’s work and to hopefully enlist some more supporters). Sylvester Tannis had brought a large boat sail, which we suspended between the basketball court’s chain link fence and the basket, and we carried tables from the nearby Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School for use in displaying the books. Close to forty boxes of used (mostly children’s and teens’) books had been generously donated by one of our new Bequia Mission supporters in Canada, Mrs. Shanoor Gulamali. Two other newly acquired friends of the Mission, Aman and Shamim Rajan, had kindly rented a truck and delivered the books from Shanoor’s Richmond Hill home to our place, so that they could be included with the shipment which we sent out in mid-January.

The sale started slowly, but as a few early buyers returned to the grandstand with their purchases, word spread throughout the large gathering that the Mission volunteers were selling books and toys very reasonably (e.g. about $1 - 2 E.C. or $0.50 to $1 CAD for a large, hard-cover book and as little as four for $1 E.C. for paperbacks). Soon we were flooded with customers, keeping the volunteers busy, making change or looking for a particular genre or author as requested.

The book sale also enabled us to re-connect with many old friends and several people who had received assistance from the Bequia Mission in the past. For example, it was great that Glenson Ollivierre and Antonio Hazell made a point of stopping by to say hello. Although he is now in his late teens, when he was only six years old, the Mission sponsored extensive medical treatments for Glenson to receive pressure on his brain. Assistance was provided for Antonio to receive life-saving heart surgery when he was still a young child. It was wonderful to re-connect with both boys, who are now polite, appreciative, and outwardly healthy young men.
While the majority of books were sold during the Sports Day celebration, Carmette, Sandra, Jean, and Betty decided to continue the sale the next morning, under the almond trees in the Harbour. A total of $ 1400 E.C. (about $ 550 CAD) was raised over the course of the two day sale. Later in the week, these funds were presented to the Bequia Mission Local Committee to support their ongoing Seniors Feeding Program. Our thanks go to donors, Shanoor Gulamali and the Rajan family of Richmond Hill, Linda Harrier and her friend Lesly, the volunteer members of the BMLC, and the visiting Canadian participants in the Mission’s “Island Outreach Project” for their above-and-beyond efforts to make the inaugural book & toy sale such a resounding success!