Passion for charity: Young women giving back amid covid19

Continuing in the footsteps of generations before, four 18-year-olds have successfully created two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – WeHelpTT and LetsGiveBack – with the intention to make a positive impact on the lives of the less fortunate.

These friends credit their passion for charity to witnessing those around them constantly giving back to the underprivileged.

When WMN spoke to the founders of WeHelpTT and LetsGiveBack, they expressed gratitude to their family members who played a positive role in shaping their perspective of charity work.

WeHelpTT’s Emma West and Emily O’Connor, students of the International School of Port of Spain, strongly believe that any form of help can make a great difference in the lives of those affected by hardships. “We may not think that it is so big, but it really counts,” O'Connor said.

With limited resources and funding, O'Connor and West said they dipped into personal savings to help people in any way necessary.

O’Connor said the joy on the faces of those who received help continues to drive them to help others.

West said the lack of sponsorship limits WeHelpTT's outreach but with pooled resources they were able to assist those who sought help from the organisation.

She thanked bookstores RIK services, Ink Stop and Keith Khan for assisting with a schoolbook drive in September. The drive provided books and school supplies to boys of Rainbow Rescue TT in Port of Spain at the start of the school year.

Their most recent project was a clothing drive to help a single mother.

Also in September, WeHelpTT contributed cleaning supplies to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (TTSPCA) in Port of Spain to assist with animal shelter maintenance.

“Animals also are important. I think that a lot of times when people are donating they forget about them,” O'Connor said.

In an attempt to assist Venezuelan migrants, WeHelpTT reached out to Living Water Community in Port of Spain.

West said the decision to donate hampers to the charity was based on the close relationship between Living Water and migrants.

“There are a lot of Trinidadians who are suffering as well, but a lot of the times Venezuelans are looked past because they are not from here. We wanted to help them as well,” West said.

Cousins and founders of LetsGiveBack, Isabelle Laquis and Savannah Laquis, students of Maple Leaf International School, they said their passion for helping others reignited after witnessing the struggles people faced during the covid19 pandemic.

“We decided we wanted to make a change. A small act of kindness will change somebody’s life entirely,” Isabelle said.

LetsGiveBack started with the distribution of 130 food hampers to Diego Martin construction workers who were left unemployed during the recent covid19 lockdown.

The cousins also offered their time by visiting Love all Serve all’s kitchen for five hours to help prepare meals for the homeless around Port of Spain.

They credited their family, friends and corporations for generous donations to their cause which, to-date, continues to fund upcoming projects.

Asked what the goals of the organisation were, Isabelle and Savannah expressed the hope to be known by more people.

“We started off small and now we have raised over $50,000 for our upcoming Christmas hamper drive,” Savannah said.

The first collaboration between WeHelpTT and LetsGiveBack was a donation of essential items to St Dominic’s Children’s Home in Belmont.

“We reached out to St Dominic’s home, it was asking for help with essential items, so we decided to team up and help them. We gave them a kettle, some storage containers and an electric iron but they are still in need of more items, so we are still in touch with them,” West said.

Asked whether they plan to team up in the future, the four friends said there are projects already underway.

These young women believe not enough is being done for the underprivileged and encouraged others to get involved in charity work.

“Everybody can contribute something small in their everyday lives to make an impact. Saving $1 each time you get a salary every month – $12 can do a lot for a person even if it is something small,” O'Connor said.

She said getting people to donate can be challenging since people often donate selectively.

The WeHelpTT organisers said more people contributed towards the clothing drive but few towards the schoolbook drive.

“We get a lot of people asking for donations but we don’t get a lot of people giving donations,” O'Connor said.

Their message to other young people concerning charity work was that no matter how small, their contribution can go a long way.

The goal of the four friends is to motivate young people to help others whenever they have the chance.

Anyone who wants to help can follow LetsGiveBack and WeHelpTT on Instagram.