SLHTA’s Tourism Enhancement Fund distributes EC$100K in Food Vouchers

(Castries, Saint Lucia – Thursday, December 18th 2025)- This holiday season, EC$100,000 in assistance will reach the less fortunate across Saint Lucia through the Saint Lucia Hospitality and Tourism Association’s (SLHTA) Tourism Enhancement Fund’s (TEF) annual Christmas Food Voucher Drive. The vouchers have been donated to over twenty civil society groups and agencies, with several receiving them during a handover ceremony on Wednesday, December 17th at the SLHTA Secretariat, Rodney Heights.

SLHTA CEO Noorani Azeez expressed satisfaction that tourism continues to touch lives. “It is our pleasure, at this time of year, to be gathering to share good stuff with everyone—from vouchers to grants and donations—with all our stakeholders who are so involved at a ground level to make the impact of tourism felt at our community level,” he said.

TEF Programme Manager Donette Ismael explained that the goal of the drive is to reach as many people as possible. “It is with great pleasure that we are here to do our annual Christmas Food drive. The SLHTA’s TEF, this year, has invested over $100,000 in Christmas vouchers. The SLHTA will be working with community groups around the island to ensure that the most vulnerable persons benefit from our drive this year. We have gathered some of the organisations together to share some of the work that they will be doing to ensure that we all share the Christmas cheer.”

Some of this year’s recipients are:
• Lions Club of Gros- Islet
• The Rotary Club
• Millet Development Committee
• Willing Hands Charitable Foundation
• The Saint Lucia Dove Club
• Special Education School in Vieux fort
• Dunnottar School
• RISE St. Lucia
• Miss L’s Charity
• NewLeaf Wellness Program
• Boys Training Centre
• Royal Opulence Group
• Musicians and Creative Industry
• Making a Difference Foundation

For Chloe Gaillard of Royal Opulence Group, the vouchers will help bring a feeding programme to life. “Every year, as part of our give-back to the community, we do a feeding programme in the Castries basin. We do meals and every year the numbers increase. This year we’re aiming towards 100 people so the vouchers will definitely go a long way in getting the food stuff needed to prepare these hot meals for our needy and less fortunate amongst us,” she said.

Manager of the Boys Training Centre, Leanna Wallace, expressed gratitude to the TEF for what she described as a critical donation. “We will all appreciate in Saint Lucia that we have children at the centre who are in conflict with the law, and children who are there in care and protection. This donation that has been given to us will be used for us to share the joy of Christmas with their families. Because we do understand and appreciate that the socio-economic factors go deeper than we actually think. Our vulnerable people in Saint Lucia need a lot and when you get companies of that nature, who come and partner with us, we are very appreciative of this.”

With over EC$900,000 invested in people and communities in 2025, Ismael said that the organization is looking forward to fostering more positive change in the New Year. “This has been another great year for the TEF. We are very happy to say that we were able to impact many lives throughout the island with our scholarship programme, after-school programmes and various other initiatives. We are happy to be closing off this year with our annual voucher distribution and we want to thank our many contributors for making this possible. From the TEF, we wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!”