 The St Lucia Social Development Fund has been working closely with the diaspora office to help facilitate the donations received from the St Lucia diaspora. The latest undertaking of the organisations is the establishment of a thrift shop in St Lucia with the aim of assisting nationals here at home. The Executive Director of the SSDF, Alison Mathera, noted that the St Lucia Associations from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have shown absolute commitment towards the initiative. I think the challenge was they wanted to find something that they could unify, come together on to make a meaningful dent in poverty in St Lucia and we were able to present that to them through a proposal that we set up a thrift shop in St Lucia that would be funded by the USLUE if you will through contributions and at the end of every year we would have discussions with a steering committee that has been that comprised members of the SSDF and the USLUE to determine what the funds would go to, the proceeds from that. That was to me one of the most amazing experiences at the SSDF and I think is a watershed because there is no question that there are numbers of St Lucia's living overseas that are very committed to helping St Lucia. Mathera expressed gratitude to watch radio and family and the St Lucia Association of St Croix who have already made donations. St Croix from the beginning when we attended the biennial convention in the UK, from the beginning they indicated that they were committed to helping and they have sent, they have sent, they have sent three barrels. This is not the first time they've sent stuff to us and I'm very happy for watch radio, they seem very energized also. The Canadians have also been very helpful, they've done a house and what have you. So there is the will, there is the will from the associations in the US, the UK and Canada. It is for us to march it here and we are the SSDF, the SSDF staff. We are doing all we can to make this happen. Ambassador for Diaspora Affairs, her Excellency Dr. Joyce Lynn Clark Fletcher expressed gratitude on behalf of the Government of St Lucia to the diaspora for all the assistance received especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. So this is a difficult time but we are very positive. We are looking ahead, we know that things will get better. We know that all the things we had planned for St Lucia for the diaspora is on hold but we are not given up. We are holding on, we are praying, we are pressing on and we will keep on receiving. We have next week or I think it's a week and a half again we will be receiving will chairs and things from the Diabetic Association UK, St Lucia Diabetic Association UK and so many others of you send it. This is what you can do now because you cannot physically come and if your holiday is very short you don't want to come and spend seven days in quarantine and you want to protect those in St Lucia that you love. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for working with us and the Government. Thank you for giving. The hand-in-over ceremony of the donations received from Watch Radio and Family and the St Lucia Association of St Croix took place on Tuesday October 6th 2020. From the Government Information Service, I am Anicia Antoine reporting.