A prominent Vincentian shipping company in Brooklyn on Saturday, Aug. 8 collaborated with some “friends” in starting a very successful free Kids Fair on the block where the company is located.
Standard Shippers, owned by Gideon “Fessy” Yorke, spearheaded the event that attracted many Vincentian and other Caribbean children, and volunteers.
The event took place on Clarendon Road, between 31st and 32nd streets.
“Last year, we had a very successful Christmas Party, so we wanted to do something for the kids,” Yorke told Caribbean Life, as the event began to wind down. “Everything was free [for the kids].
“The day was very good, very successful,” he added. “The kids enjoyed themselves. We’re going to make it an annual thing.”
Besides free food and drinks, the children participated in face-painting exercises, rides, dances and games.
“It was a great success,” said Atiba Williams, who coordinated the event. “That’s the most important thing.
“The organizations I reached out to responded well,” he added, stating that a large number of Vincentian groups, businesses, supporters and friends heeded the appeal. “It’s a way of giving back.”
Gailene Windsor, a former St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ national netballer, said she had contacted the Mayor’s Office, Community Board 17 and the 67th Police Precinct Community Board in Brooklyn in securing the block.
“For the first year, it was very good,” said Windsor, who is also a member of 67th Police Precinct Community Board. “I am very happy.
“I am looking forward to the event being bigger and better next year,” she added. “What good about it (Kids Fair) is that the community was very cooperative.”
Maxwell Haywood, chair of the Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines Diaspora Committee of New York, Inc., one of the groups that collaborated in the initiative, brought along his wife, Sherrill-Ann, also a member of the group, and their two kids — Ngeri, 12, and Makeda, 5.
“It’s a good effort to bridge the first and second generation of Vincentians in the Diaspora,” Haywood said. “In the next decade, we’ll have a good number of young people to take over from us, and it’s good to see them happy.”
