Earlier we showed you the police teaching city kids how to swim. And though those kids will return to school with a new learned skill, another group of 300 will go back to school with brand new bags and supplies. The Police department in partnership with Crime Stoppers handed over school bags and supplies to select students this afternoon. Here are the highlights from that event.
Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police
"First of all I want to thank our friends from crime stoppers for partnering with us in issuing 300 school bags to marginalised communities within Belize City. I believe that the partnership demonstrates our community support, it demonstrates that we are in support of the kid's journeys' in completing their education so it is a symbolic gesture from crime stoppers and the police department to show that education is important and we are here to assist them to complete that journey. We have our community policing officers from across eastern division Belize district who have been working with the communities and they were tasked to identify these kids today. So they work along with the schools with the community and with the parents."
Lauren Smith, Chairperson, Crime Stoppers
"So the school bags are a donation from crime stoppers Belize but we also had assistance from other members of the community like Nando's they donated 100 of the high school bags and stationary house, Mr Giovanni Alamilla gave us really discounted prices so we would be able to do all of 300 school bags that they had asked for. It's so important for us to give the children that are at risk the opportunity and the tools that will make them successful for this upcoming school year because education is what alleviates poverty it raises the confidence of the kids and it also gives them a sense of purpose when you have an education so that is a world wide factor known that it reduces crime when you have an education so it is really important that, we felt it was important to support the police initiative in this cause."
