BB&T Employees Fill 200 Hygiene Kits for Orphanages in Jamaica
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (May 16, 2018) Boys and girls in six orphanages in Jamaica will receive their own personal hygiene kits, thanks to a generous donation from BB&T Bank.
Thirteen employees from BB&T’s offices across South Florida stuffed 200 clear vinyl bags trimmed in red with bars of soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, lotions, combs and hairbrushes.
Each kit also contained a handwritten card with a note of encouragement from a BB&T employee.
Food For The Poor is sending the kits to six orphanages in the charity’s Angels Of Hope program in Jamaica.
BB&T’s donation is part of the company’s Lighthouse Project, which was started in 2009 as a way of giving back to nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve.
“Our team of Private Advisors for BB&T Wealth is incredibly diverse with associates that hail from Colombia, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico,” said Ethan Van Eck, BB&T Wealth Senior Vice President.
“We’re very much aligned with Food For the Poor’s focus on meeting needs in these neighboring countries to provide for those who do not have all of the resources that we are blessed with in the United States,” Van Eck said. “It’s a unique, international opportunity and we’re very excited to share the light of hope in communities beyond our borders. We know these kits will be life-changing for these kids.”
Food For The Poor’s Angels Of Hope child sponsorship program provides loving care, food, clothing, shelter and education for more than 600 children in 27 orphanages in Jamaica.
Beyond covering the children’s basic needs, the hygiene kits will give them the dignity of having their own personal care items, said Rebecca McConnell, International Field Manager for Food For The Poor’s Angels Of Hope program.
“It brings the children such a sense of self-worth to call something their own,” McConnell said. “They’re living in an orphanage, which means you’re sharing everything.”
Crystal Krantz, Private Client Specialist for BB&T, said putting the kits together was a meaningful team-building experience.
“Being able to spend time together to do something that will have such a big impact on people who are less fortunate than we are is really important,” she said.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]