NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) yesterday announced the disbursement of $6275.55 raised through a joint Children for Children Campaign with the Foundation For Environmental Education (FEE).
The campaign was initiated in November 2019 in response to Hurricane Dorian to support severely impacted Eco-Schools Bahamas students and teachers on Abaco and Grand Bahamas.
BREEF Executive Director Casuarina McKinney-Lambert said: “Though born out of adversity, the Children for Children campaign united the global Eco-Schools network with the children of The Bahamas not only to show that they care but to lend their financial support to the ongoing recovery of children affected by Hurricane Dorian.
“We greatly appreciate the compassion of children around the world and their efforts to help children in The Bahamas recover from Hurricane Dorian.”
During the campaign, BREEF and FEE mobilized their global network of 70 countries and 19.5 million children to unite children from around the world to promote empathy for affected Bahamian children, raise awareness of climate change, provide education on disaster resilience and organize support in cash for the replacement of educational resources and materials for the 12 affected eco-schools on Abaco and Grand Bahama.
Students from an eco-school in Spain and the Czech Republic made videos that were shared on the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) social media platforms.
Students from the Escola da Colina Educação Infantil e Ensino Fundamental in Brazil made and sold handicrafts to raise money for the Children for Children Campaign.
At Escola Básica e Secundária Dr Serafim Leite in Portugal, students designed pencils, pins and bracelets that were sold as part of the fundraising in a combined Children for Children campaign that raised money for schools in Angola and The Bahamas.
During the 2020-21 school year, the Wilhelm Bracke Comprehensive School in Germany held virtual sponsored fun-runs to raise money for the campaign.
The Abaco schools in the Eco-Schools Programme are Every Child Counts, Forest Heights Academy, Hope Town Primary School, Man-O-War Primary School, SC Bootle High School, Patrick J Bethel High School and Central Abaco Primary School.
The Grand Bahama eco-schools include Bishop Michael Eldon School, Freeport Gospel Chapel School, Holmes Rock Primary School, Hugh Campbell Primary School and Lucaya International School.
Cheques in the amount of $522.96 for each of the 12 schools in BREEF’s Eco-Schools Bahamas Programme were presented by Eco-Schools Bahamas Steering Committee members Olethea Gardiner of Keep Grand Bahama Clean and Lianna Burrows of Abacos’ Friends of the Environment on behalf of BREEF.
BREEF is the official representative for the Foundation for Environmental Education in The Bahamas and has been running the Eco-Schools Bahamas Programme since 2009, inspiring Bahamian students towards excellence in environmental stewardship by promoting actions for creating a more sustainable world.
To find out more about the Eco-Schools Bahamas Programme, phone 327-9000 or email breef@breef.org or ecoschoolsbahamas@breef.org.
