Tourism Enhancement Fund Donates 100 Schoolbags to RISE St. Lucia for Students in Need

On Monday, August 18th, 2025, the Saint Lucia Hospitality and Tourism Association’s (SLHTA) Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) proudly donated 100 schoolbags towards RISE St. Lucia’s Back-to-School Drive.

The initiative seeks to provide students in need with the tools and support necessary to begin the new school year with confidence.

President of Rise Saint Lucia, Dr. Venus Cherry said, “I want to thank the Association for partnering with RISE. You have parents, school, government, I see us as gap fillers, these are the organizations that come in and provide that extra support that you need. RISE is currently working on a few different things — housing for people in need, the food pantry, and our biggest initiative right now, the Back-to-School Drive. We were targeting 500 schoolbags for distribution, and I’m happy to announce that we’ve surpassed that number. As of Saturday, August 16^th we were at 578, and today we’ve carried out even more distributions.”

Cherry thanked corporate Saint Lucia as well as private individuals both local and foreign for donating towards the initiative. “We’re now hoping that about 700 schoolbags, with stationery supplies, will be donated to the less fortunate members of our society,” he said.

The TEF remains committed to empowering Saint Lucia’s youth through initiatives such as after-school programs, the Eileen Paul Scholarship, and other educational and community-focused projects. We extend sincere thanks to all contributing companies and visitors for making initiatives like this possible.