Yoplait, KIND partner to help underprivileged children

As part of their commemoration of this year's International Youth Day, Yoplait and Kids in Need of Direction (KIND) have teamed up to assist underprivileged children with a back-to-school drive.

At HADCO's administrative building in San Juan on Friday, HADCO's brand manager Ethan-Ross Rampaul said the theme of the drive is Inter-generational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages.

Rampaul said the aim of this initiative is to bring youth into the spotlight and ensure that they can enjoy full access to education, employment, health care and monetary services as they are the future and, therefore, crucial to the continued building of TT.

To that end, Rampaul said, "What does this mean? It means that 100 kids that are most at risk economically, that are the most vulnerable and need the most support will be receiving book bags, school books, stationery, school shoes and uniforms among other things. This is to ensure that they start strong in the upcoming academic year, 2022-2023."

He added that the group of children selected are standard one students at the primary-school level .

Rampaul expressed his immense pride at being involved in this, saying, "In the past Yoplait has pioneered the 'Save the Lids' programme, in which part-proceeds of Yoplait purchasess were invested to support treatment for cancer patients. We've also partnered with Scotiabank and their 5k walk against breast cancer. Yoplait continues funding, product and manpower on a weekly basis to individuals, charities, schools and communities across TT."

He said it is a family-oriented and community-based brand and wants to continue engaging in such movements in order to help build up TT's social capital.

In explaining why Yoplait chose to partner with KIND specifically, Rampaul said it wanted a powerful civil-society partner.

"KIND has very strong legs and long arms in this arena of outreach and social development regarding children, schools and communities and we are very pleased to partner with them to provide these back-to-school kits."

KIND chair Karina Jardine-Scott said the programme was targeting 100 children from 41 different schools across the country, including areas such as, but not limited to Blanchisseuse, Sangre Grande, Valencia, Carenage and Paramin.

She said, "This comes at a terrific time in TT, where there are so many families who are under pressure with unemployment and the situation after covid19...

"The back-to-school drive is something that KIND has been doing for quite a few years. It's really a huge relief for families knowing that they are getting their children's supplies, not only the books and the stationary, but even the shoes and the uniforms as well."

She said Yoplait deserves tremendous praise for getting involved in this initiative on such a large scale.