Six NGOs to benefit from furniture auction

SIX local charities benefited from the Ashley and Unicomer auction held on Sunday evening at the Ashley’s Homestore located at the Narsaloo Ramaya Road, Endeavour Chaguanas. Ashley Furniture and Unicomer invited business people and other members of the public to participate in bidding for furniture items. All funds derived from this event will be divided among the charities.

The charities that stand to benefit are: Conflict Women represented by former Miss World, Giselle Laronde-West; Diabetes Association TT represented by TV host Hema Ramkissoon; Peyton’s Light Foundation with Sacha De Souza-Thompson; Adult Literacy Tutors Association represented by journalist Natacha Jones; John E Sabga Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer supported by Natalie Sabga and Animal Welfare Network run by Lara Quentrall-Thomas.

General Manager of Ashley’s Furniture, Jennifer Phillips said the event was a special one as it showcased the work done by six NGOs in TT.

“We are proud of the achievements and works pioneered by these organisations to transform the lives of those deserving of support,” she said.

Phillip announced that Ashley’s and Unicomer will also be giving $60,000 to the six charities, with each to receive $10,000 each. That being apart from funds collected at the auction.

Managing Director of Unicomer TT, Clive Fletcher handed out the cheques to the representatives of the six charities just before the auction started.

Phillip announced that, in addition to the funds collected on Sunday, five per cent of all sales in the month of September at Unicomer and Ashley’s would also go to the five charities.

Laronde-West said Conflict Women was an organisation started by Afiya Mohammed to help women who have been sexually, mentally and physically abused.

“We take them from the beginning of their struggles straight to the end where they’re successful and feel confident about themselves once more,” she said. Members of Conflict Women benefited from small loans to start businesses, she said and they now have a high level of success in TT.

Ramkissoon said, having experienced the effects of diabetes in her family, she made the choice to get involved and do more. Over the past seven years, she has been an advocate for the Diabetes Association.

“Last year I lost my father as a result of complications linked to diabetes,” Ramkissoon said. The association is working with young people every day to change their behaviour. “Non- communicable diseases are on the rise and the association is hoping to stop the trend or reverse the trend in TT.”

De Souza-Thompson said she was happy to spend her time supporting Peyton’s Light Foundation which is a charity focused on raising awareness and providing support to families with children who have Cytomegalovirus (CMV) which is a medically complex disability.

“It is a new foundation, started by two wonderful parents who have a daughter called Peyton who was born with multiple disabilities,” she said. The foundation raises awareness of the illness and also assists families with much-needed funding.

Jones said the Adult Literacy Tutors Association was an organisation that taught adults from 17 years and up how to read, enabling them to live a more fulfilling life.

Jones said, “A lot of us who can read take it for granted but those who are illiterate really navigate through life without the ability to read and it really compromises their ability to live a fulfilling life.”

Sabga said the foundation for Pancreatic Cancer focused on bringing awareness and education to people about the disease as well as offering patient support services.

“We bring awareness and education to people about the disease, the signs, the symptoms, the risk factors,” she said.

The foundation is now collaborating with the Cancer Caribbean Research Initiative to continue the work in dealing with this dreaded disease.

Quentrall-Thomas spoke on the Animal Welfare Network saying its focus was on the prevention of unwanted puppies and kittens through spaying and neutering.

“We educate the public about animal welfare and with the funds collected from Ashley’s Furniture will go towards making a film to educate people around TT on the care of animals.”

The event was hosted by Teri Leigh Bovell. Ashley’s will reveal the amount collected at the auction at a later date.