Unicomer Group distributes $162,000 in cheques

NEWSDAY columnist Debbie Jacob was one of several women who represented six deserving NGOs as the Unicomer Group distributed a total of $162,000 in cheques on Sunday at Ashley Furniture HomeStore at Xtra Plaza in Chaguanas.

Each NGO received $27,000 at the event titled Brunch at Ashley. The NGOs were the Girl Guides Association, Jacob's Wishing for Wings, Kids in Need of Direction (KIND), Swaha Vishok Bhavan Children’s Home, the Machel Montano Foundation for Greatness (MMFG), and Animal Welfare Network.

The event marked the culmination of the Ashley Furniture HomeStore Hi5 for Charity Programme. A release on Sunday from public relations officer Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd Shahad Ali said Hi5 for Charity is a cause marketing programme developed by Ashley’s local franchisee, Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd. In October, five per cent of sales was donated to the selected NGOs.

The programme runs collaboratively with Ashley Couch Conversations, in which six powerful women engaged in a talk-show style social media video series on Ashley Furniture HomeStore Trinidad Facebook and IGTV platforms, Ali said.

"In 2019, the programme received the prestigious Ashley International Chairman’s award, after being selected as the most outstanding initiative from among 58 countries worldwide. Season three was held earlier this year."

The release quoted Elizabeth “Lady” Montano, founder of the MMFG, as saying, "This programme (Hi 5) was such a great idea to get out my message and receive such a great contribution to our foundation.

"I received feedback that my video touched a lot of people as well as motivated quite a number of people to go shop at Ashley."

Ashley Furniture HomeStore and Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd expressed sincerest thanks to all the women who have participated in the Couch Conversations over the last three years and commend all the charities which have been part of the programme.

At the event, Newsday spoke with Montano, the mother of soca artiste Machel Montano.

"I feel elated in the sense that I am very happy that Ashley is doing the Hi5 charity. I feel proud that I was able to help in terms of spreading the message and getting people to support the charity," she said.

In October, the foundation had partnered with Blue Waters and Courts and donated 200 devices, 185 tablets, and 15 laptops to the Ministry of Education’s adopt-a-school initiative.

Montano said the money would be used to continue the adopt-a-school initiative, this time for the people of Tobago.

"We (MMFG) will be going to buy some devices to help those in Tobago. The foundation is always willing to help, especially with young people and anything that is community-driven."

Another recipient, Karina Jardine-Scott, founder and chairman of KIND, repeatedly thanked the group for the money, which she referred to as an awesome gift.

"It is very difficult, as a charity, getting money without control. If we get funding for a programme, we must spend it only on that specific programme," Jardine-Scott told Newsday. "When we get donations like this, we would be able to use it to pay bills. Covid19 has allowed us on so many levels to grow exponentially."

Despite the pandemic's challenges, she said it has brought many organisations together, allowing them to be creative and thinking outside the box.

"The organisation has evolved tremendously in 2020, and covid has allowed us to meet amazing people," Jardine-Scott said. "We evolved from an academic organisation to be able to offer food to over 22,000 beneficiaries. We have distributed 6,500 food packages, and we are distributing devices, stationery, and clothing."

KIND is developing a programme called Plant what you Eat, in which members teach young people and families to plant their own gardens.

The programmes aim to help families to connect with nature and be sustainable.

Apart from Ashley Furniture HomeStore, the retail brands of the Unicomer Group include RadioShack, Courts, Courts Optical, Lucky Dollar, and Servitech.

The group operates in 27 countries from its headquarters in El Salvador and has over 15,000 staff members.