The Bronx-based St. Matthias Charities, Inc., on July 13 held another successful annual BBQ fundraiser to help medical institutions, the less fortunate and various communities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“The weather condition could not have been better,” Robert McBarnett, the group’s president and pastor of the church that carries the same name, told Caribbean Life, about the balmy summer day for holding the event.
“Families, friends and supporters came out to support the charitable event,” he added about the BBQ that was held at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center in Brooklyn.
“As one attendee puts it, ‘this event allows me to connect with friends I have not seen in quite a while; the socialization was good for all of us,’”,Pastor McBarnett continued.
Some members of the Brooklyn-based Trinity Apostolic Church assisted St. Matthias Charities, Inc. in serving patrons at the BBQ.
McBarnett said proceeds raised at the fundraiser will help in the church’s scheduled eight mission to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, from Aug. 24 to Sept. 7.
He said one of the highlights of that mission will be the distribution of 145 book bags, books and school supplies to the children of the Dickson Government School and the surrounding communities along the eastern shores of mainland St. Vincent.
During the mission, Pastor McBarnett said the group will also hand over, in capital Kingstown, several pieces of equipment and medical supplies to the Ministry of Health and the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH), including stretchers, crash carts, EKG machine, operation room lights, rehabilitation chairs, adult pampers, hospital curtains and raw materials.
In addition, McBarnett said St. Matthias Charities, Inc. will continue to aid the Mental Health Hospital and the Louis Punnett Home, a home for the indigent — both a Glen — with food, clothing and other supplies.
In honoring his pledge during the group’s last mission to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Pastor McBarnett said St. Matthias Charities, Inc. will be partnering with the Ministry of Education with its zero-hunger program for school children.
“Hundreds of crates of food will be on the container for this program,” he said.
The Stubbs Nine Morning Committee will also receive hundreds of Christmas lights as “an advance donation for their annual Christmas program,” McBarnett said.
On return from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, he said the group will then head to Grenada for another mission.
During the Sept. 28-Oct. 5 mission to the “Spice Isle,” McBarnett said “a large supply of goods and medical supplies” will be donated to the Ministry of Health, including EKG machine, crash carts, crutches, canes and walkers.
He said “a small army of nurses is scheduled to be on this trip,” who “will be meeting with the staff of the General Hospital and assist in whatever way they can.”
In expressing gratitude to patrons during the BBQ fundraiser, McBarnett said “100 percent of the donation goes directly to the missions.”
Over the years, he said the St. Matthias Charities, Inc. has been donating medical supplies to the MCMH and other healthcare facilities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and school and other supplies to schools and communities throughout the length and breadth of the nation.
The next fundraiser, the group’s annual Prayer Breakfast, takes place on Nov. 16, 2019 at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center, 671 Prospect Pl., Brooklyn.
