An appeal has gone out for members of the public to become a friend of Variety- The Children’s Charity.
Immediate Past Chief Barker of the Charity, Jacqui McDermott said this is one of the ways individuals can assist the organisation. She said this can be done through making a cash donation or by volunteering.
She shared this while noting this year has been tough for the charity. Giving some details, she said the Charity has had to do more with less, it has had to “cut expenses” and it was unable to stage some of its major fundraisers owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We actually did have to cut our office, work from home instead. We had to look at the staffing, so we have reduced some of our staff to reduce the overheads in order to then get back to the roots and see what we can do with that.”
She continued, “There is a way that you can help us and that is by becoming a friend of Variety. For just $60 a year, you could sign up and be a friend of ours and that money would go towards the different projects over the year as opposed to just at certain times in the year…You sign up, you can either send us money or cheque. We will keep you updated in all the different things the Charity is doing and also, if you want to volunteer with us, we would love people to volunteer.”
McDermott was speaking to The Barbados Advocate while at last week Saturday’s Charity’s Christmas Fair for Charity and Clear Out for Charity events which were held simultaneously inside and on the grounds of Harbour Lights.
Looking ahead to 2021, she said, “Everybody has had to look at the world very differently, so we have to think differently too as a charity. So we are looking to reinvent ourselves and still become relevant and still do things which help the community but we just have to think of maybe different ways to do that.”