The nine contestants in this year’s Miss SVG Pageant will embark on their individual community-based projects shortly.
The ladies unveiled their projects on August 16 with Leteisha Barbour presenting ‘The Inspiration Economy; Denicia Boatswain ‘The Black Economy’; Deana Fairbain ‘The Orange Economy’; Arena Foy ‘The Blue Economy’; Trina Hooper ‘The Green Economy’; Nia La Borde ‘The Golden Economy’; Simesha Millington ‘The Silver Economy’; Tara Richardson ‘The White Economy and Royesha Telemaque ‘The Purple Economy’.
The Projects
Barbour (Ms Grenadine House) said that her project aims at connecting people in her community of Barrouallie and providing them with the resources they need to turn their ideas into reality.
She said that the project focuses on three areas: education, entrepreneurship, and community service and spirit.
Boatswain (Ms Metrocint General Insurance) presented her ‘crime busters’ project explaining that she intends to examine the effects of gun violence in her community of Diamond.
According to Boatswain, the prevalence of gun violence has impacted the community negatively and her project is aimed at educating and encouraging residents in her community on preventative measures as it pertains to gun violence.
Fairbain (Ms Play 4) said that she will embark on a project that will help to enhance the lives and livelihoods of the residents in her community, Lowmans Leeward, through the use of creative expressions.
Representing ‘The Green Economy’ Hooper (Ms NLA) said that she will be promoting the utilization of land in the North Leeward area.
“My project will seek to create a sustainable food system that can nourish and sustain the environmental, economic and social well-being of the people without depleting our natural resources in North Leeward,” she said.
La Borde (Ms FLOW) is representing the Golden Economy and will be educating members of her community of Sion Hill on the usage of renewable energy, in order to reduce energy cost.
She said that this is important to members of her community because it has been challenging for some residents as it relates to their energy costs.
The Silver Economy project which will be presented by Millington (Ms Corea’s ACE Hardware) will highlight the challenges relating to an aging population in her community of Chauncey.
Richardson (Ms JCI Ltd) will be promoting proper dental care in the community of Questelles.
And Telemaque (Ms Intransit Exports Limited) will focus on women’s empowerment in the Marriaqua community.
Foy (Ms Massy Stores), who will highlight the Blue Economy will naturally concentrate on reinforcing the potential of the fishing industry.
GECCU’s Support
The community service component of the 2023 Miss SVG pageant will be sponsored by the Government Employees Cooperative Credit Union (GECCU) to a tune of EC$20,750.
The company’s affiliation to the project dates to 2019 when it was called The Empowerment Campaign.
Maxine Johnney, CEO (Ag) said that this segment of the Miss SVG Pageant dovetailed several aspects of GECCU’s social charter and its investment in the community.
“It is public knowledge that GECCU, being a good corporate citizen, relentlessly supports different initiatives and projects that impact our communities positively and improve the quality of life of our members and ordinary citizens,” she said.
Johnney said that the sponsorship to each contestant had increased this year and that although the contribution was small, she liked the idea of fostering volunteerism and the initiative.
She noted that following on the 2022 community service project, several of the contestants then are still involved in community projects today, speaking volumes of the initiative.
One such example is testified in the winner of the 2022 competition, Shannon John, who tackled the issue of crime in her community of Vermont.
Today the impact that she had on her community still lives on, with the creation of a football team which did well in the recent South Leeward Football competition.
She offered some advice to the 2023 contestants saying, “When you sit with your team and you are drafting your activities and also in the process of executing your project, do not only do it for the sake of only winning the competition. Yes, everybody wants to win. You want to make sure you follow your guidelines and yes, you want to make sure that your community supports you, but most of all you want to make sure you are doing this project from your heart.”