Two chil­dren’s homes, the Hope Cen­tre and the Our La­dy of the Way­side Halfway House for Chil­dren, re­ceived a spe­cial treat on Tues­day De­cem­ber 21st, when the Min­istry of So­cial De­vel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Ser­vices do­nat­ed toys, snack bags and ham­pers, as part of an ini­tia­tive by the Min­istry’s Sports and Events Com­mit­tee.

The Hope Cen­tre is a char­i­ta­ble non-prof­it or­ga­ni­za­tion for abused and aban­doned chil­dren.  The Our La­dy of the Way­side Halfway House for Chil­dren is a home for chil­dren aban­doned, abused, ne­glect­ed and brought in by the Chil­dren’s Au­thor­i­ty of Trinidad and To­ba­go.

Now in its fourth year, the an­nu­al treat by Min­istry staffers seeks to bring Christ­mas cheer to un­der­priv­i­leged chil­dren and chil­dren with dis­abil­i­ties.  In pre­vi­ous years, the event saw chil­dren treat­ed to toys, games, eats and drinks, as well as a sto­ry telling seg­ment cour­tesy NALIS.  How­ev­er, the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic forced the ac­tiv­i­ty to be down­scaled to de­liv­er­ing toys, food ham­pers and snacks to the se­lect­ed homes.

Min­is­ter of So­cial De­vel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Ser­vices, Sen­a­tor the Ho­n­ourable Don­na Cox was on hand to present the items to Kath­leen Hold­er-Pierre, Man­ag­er of the Our La­dy of the Way­side Halfway House for Chil­dren, while Deputy Per­ma­nent Sec­re­tary Jas­mine Pas­cal pre­sent­ed treats to Sabi­ta See­baran, Co­or­di­na­tor of the Hope Cen­tre.