Nassau, The Bahamas – Members of the Kemp Road Community Association (KRCA), recently teamed up with officials from the Free Town Urban Renewal Centre, private citizens, community-based and external businesses, various community groups and civic organizations to host their first Community Clean-Up Campaign.
Equipped with rakes, shovels, gloves, cutlasses and garbage bags, teams went through the community clearing away overgrown bush, debris and rubbish that was then placed in large dumpsters located at strategic points throughout the community. Residents were also encouraged to place their debris/garbage in the dumpsters.
Miss Aniqua Pinder, Executive Team Member of the KRCA, applauded the individuals, private companies, sponsors, and community and civic groups, for “helping to make this event extremely successful.”
“The response/support we got from so many persons, from the business community, sponsors, donors, the Urban Renewal Centre, everyone, was just amazing,” Miss Pinder said. “This was a great opportunity to showcase how young people can come together to make positive contributions to their communities.”
Miss Pinder said the Association – comprised mainly of young persons “born and raised” in the Kemp Road Community – was established in order to bring “focused
attention” to addressing the needs of the community, in addition to showcasing some of the positives of the community. “For too long there has been a certain stigma attached to Kemp Road. We want to change that beginning on the inside, and then creating that change externally. This clean-up was the first of several events designed to do just that. We want to be able to let our residents know that keeping our community safe, healthy, and environmentally friendly and secure, begins with keeping it clean and that doing so is a responsibility each one of us has to share in as individual residents.”
Miss Pinder said the Association has a second motive.
“We want to let the generation behind us know that they too can play critical roles in helping to create a better community for all, and that is the reason we decided to include them in this process so that they can become inspired, they can become encouraged to continue, to expand, and to improve upon what we would have started.”
Nine-year-old Cordell Christie was one of the “next generation of persons” participating in the event. Christie, along with his mother Lakeisha Fox, their family, and friends, in addition to being present for the Clean-Up, hosted a Book Stall.
A Grade Four student at Palmdale Primary, Cordell collected almost 200 books for the stall. The books were made available free of charge to residents attending the event.
“I wanted to do something to inspire the children in the community so that they can start reading more,” Cordell, an avid reader himself, said. “Reading takes you all around the world, and so I wanted to help other children who may not get an opportunity to travel on an airplane, to travel around the world right from their homes through books.”
Cordell’s mom, Lakeisha Fox, said her son is determined to make a difference in the community.
“I’m very proud of him. He is very striving, he is very smart and whatever he chooses to do, I fully support him because he truly means well. This event was a great opportunity. I invite members of the Kemp Road community to please take advantage of any positive event going on in the community. Come out and support your own; participate in everything positive that is going on in Kemp
Road (because) we need to uplift the area, we need to show strength, and we need to be unified.”
Mr. Corey Brown, an Association Vice President, has high hopes for the Association’s work.
“Our initiative was launched by like-minded persons who all want to give back to Kemp Road; those who all want to see an improved Kemp Road,” Mr. Brown said. “One of the advantages of having actually been born and raised in this community is that we can connect with everyone who reside here, especially the younger persons, the teenagers and high schoolers. We know what they are going through, we know what they are lacking because we grew up in this environment.”
Mrs. Loretta Mackey, Centre Manager for the Free Town Urban Renewal Centre and her team, played a pivotal role in assisting the Association in the Clean-Up. After the Association sought their assistance, Mrs. Mackey and her team mobilized and immediately reached out to their regular partners, volunteers, donors, and stakeholders who assisted by providing the dumpsters, rakes, shovels, gloves, garbage bags and muscle.
“We talk all of the time about wanting to do more things as a community, and as an integral part of this community, Urban is here, has been here, and will continue to be on the ground in this community working towards making a difference in every square inch, house-by-house, yard-by-yard, corner-by-corner, either through the many initiatives we facilitate as part of the mandate given to us by our Commission, or in collaboration with our many partners, volunteers and stakeholders.”
Mrs. Mackey said, as with the 23 other Urban Renewal Centres located throughout The Bahamas, the Free Town Urban Renewal Centre’s goal is to promote social development within the communities it serves as it provides the requisite social assistance.
“While providing social assistance, such as food and other assistance, is a critical part of our mandate, we don’t just want to be able to feed our people, we also want to teach them how to take care of themselves even if that means growing their own fruits and vegetables to feed their families as we have done with our Seniors, or how to create small business opportunities for themselves. That has been our mandate, that is the mandate given to us by our Minister (Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie A. Campbell) and our
Director (Mr. Kellen Russell) who always fully support all of our initiatives,” Mrs. Mackey added.
