Tribune’s Santa Claus Christmas Committee
THE
Giving POWER OF
46,422 CHILDREN SERVED
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Santa Claus Christmas Commi1ee, Our Sponsors & Volunteers
EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, CMG ON BOXING DAY hundreds of under privileged children crossed Paradise Island bridge — many of them for the first Hme — to aIend The Tribune’s 25th Santa Claus CommiIee Christmas party. We would like to take this opportunity to thank and salute the tremendous generosity of our sponsors Market Research, Island Capital, Generali, Island Game, Sweet Tooth, BeIy K Line, Wendy’s, Super Value, Micronet and our loyal readers, listeners and viewers who along with the assistance of Mr. Howard Karawan, Ed Fields, Bill Coteron, Albetha Edgecomb, Edward James, Christopher Smith and the AtlanHs ConvenHon team who made the Crown Ballroom available and provided lunch for the children. When they saw the glistening chandeliers and decoraHons by Ms. Natalie Appleyard (Wildflowers) they thought they had arrived in “wonderland”. Mr. Rupert Roberts of Super Value also provided food to make certain that the commiIee’s many volunteers, and many of the community’s senior ciHzens and shut-ins, also had a Christmas dinner. The work of the Santa Claus commiIee, was started by Tribune publisher, the late Sir EHenne Dupuch, in a back room at The Tribune in 1963 – 53 years ago. The intenHon of my father and his small commiIee was to bring joy to as many of the community’s poor children as possible at Christmas Hme. Members of the community contributed toys and money for the purchase of new toys. Even prisoners at HM Prison, Fox Hill, turned out toys for the children from their prison workshop. CommiIee women met annually at The Tribune to sort and wrap the gifs; arranging for their delivery to homes that would have had no Christmas without them. That work ended in 1969. Many years later, Robert Carron, one of Sir EHenne’s grandsons, on his return from Notre Dame University in 1991, was going through his grandfather’s large file of chariHes, which he had either started or sponsored. Robert’s eyes lit on the work of the Santa Claus commiIee. He vowed to resurrect that charity to the memory of his grandfather. On that first Christmas Robert, Adam, Burton & Philip Sands loaded a truck with brightly wrapped gifs and went into the over-da-hill areas of New Providence to play Santa Claus. As children ran behind their truck, Robert’s group was heartbroken by the numbers that had to be turned away when the last gif was handed out. They quickly realized that if they were to have an impact, they had to enlarge the scope of their work. In 1993, the Santa Claus commiIee with John Sitomer of Gold’s Gym now on board, was re-launched. That first Christmas — and many Christmases aferwards — Gold’s Gym was turned into a Christmas wonderland. By Christmas 2000 it had been relocated to the ballroom at AtlanHs on Paradise Island, then owned by the Kerzner family. By now the commiIee was not only taking care of almost 2,000 children, but it also included some of the elderly. As “Mother” PraI said of Monday’s funcHon: The experience for these children, including some of their parents, as they “rose over that bridge for the first ;me” it transformed their lives - it gave them hope, it made them feel that they were somebody. “It was that sense of hope as they clutched their toy that made it all so touching, so worthwhile.” The Tribune would now like to thank our loyal benefactors and volunteers, our team members and those who in some way – large or small — contributed to making it possible to embrace the less fortunate of our communiHes; lelng them know that they too are important to the future of our naHon.
The Tribune Established 1903
Being Bound To Swear To The Dogmas Of No Master
Sir EHenne Dupuch
On Behalf of the Children We Say “Thank you! Thank you!”
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Market
RESEARCH
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The Tribune Established 1903
Being Bound To Swear To The Dogmas Of No Master
Dayspring Academy Corinna Neely Danae O'Brien ChrisHane Bain Cherita Moxey DJ Polar Montell Ramsey Jim Schneider Mario & Emma Perez Whitney Miller
Sherwin Johnson Heather Lowe Disa Campbell Angelia Simms Nicole Williams Nora McIntosh Tammy MorHmer William Charlton The Dyer Family Alyssa & Lea Pinder
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Our Annual Shopping Pilgrimage
Toys For Children in West End, Eight Mile Rock, Andros & Long Island
HOLIDAY MEALS FOR THE SHUT-INS & SENIOR CITIZENS OF THE GROVE THE Santa Claus Christmas CommiIee and Mother PraI’s team distributed over 300 holiday meals to the senior residents and shut-ins of The Grove community from Prayer and Praise Assembly; residents on Bimini Avenue and Market Street off Baillou Hill Road; First Street, Second Street, Third Street, Hard Rock Alley and from Pastel Gardens to Kemp Road. The food was kindly donated by Rupert Roberts of Super Value (baked chicken, peas and rice, macaroni and cheese and Sunny D) and by AtlanHs (chicken nuggets).
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To Our Amazing Volunteers ….