Earlier on we told you about the customs department’s stepped up anti-contraband efforts during Christmas. And while that’s the scrooge side of the Customs Department – they were also playing nice today with a children’s party.
True enough, the hand that taketh away is also the one that giveth.
Five needy children from every Southside primary school were invited. 7News was there.
Sherwin Garcia, Coordinator, Customs Christmas Party
“Christmas is a season of giving and in aid of that a committee had come together and decided that we would do something special this year cause as you know the perception of how people view Customs as revenue collectors and people who take away your goods and that sort of thing. So we decided, well let’s go into something extraordinary and so we had, the committee decided together that they would choose five underprivileged children from each southside primary school and we organized it, prepared it and now it is possible an this is what you see here today.”
Jacqueline Godwin, 7News
“Is this the first activity of its kind and if it is do you guys plans to hold it annually?”
Sherwin Garcia, Coordinator, Customs Christmas Party
“Yes it is the first and what we tend to do, it is a work in progress and next year we plan to go even bigger. We started this year late so we had only 50 kids to deal with. Next year we plan to go larger maybe a hundred kids or so.”
“Besides this party and besides what you are seeing each kid will also receive a hundred dollar gift certificate to take to specific stores where they could get gift of their choice probably in clothing, footware and that sorts so it is not just a party.”
And if you are thinking that any contraband goods were used to make the Christmas meal and party possible. Not so says the Customs Department. It was the staff themselves and brokerage firms that came together to donate money to make it happen.
