Nonprofit Group Buys Fans For Heat-Stricken Eulalie Rivera Elementary School Classroom

ST. CROIX — A local nonprofit group called Virgin Islands Leaders For Change donated four fans to a 2nd grade classroom at the Eulalie Rivera Elementary School in Estate Grove Place on Thursday.

It was not the first time that VILFC donated items to a school, however, the latest benevolent act came after a call on Facebook by one of the school’s teachers for the fans because the classroom was so hot. In Dec., 2014, the group donated fans to the Education Complex after speaking at the institution the prior month.

VILFC, made up of five members, is led by Daren Georges, who serves as president. He said after mounting the fans, they spoke to the children briefly about being respectful to their teachers and paying attention while in class.

“They were very happy,” he told The Consortium on Thursday. “We initially came with three fans but went to purchase another.”

Mr. Georges said the group intends to continue such efforts as it tries to make a positive difference in the community and help mitigate the news of crime in the territory. “We’ve seen the social ills of this community, and we believe that education and mentorship can help children,” Mr. Georges, who also revealed that VILFC works with the Boys and Girls Club, added.

And the organization plans on expanding its reach outside of children once more funding becomes available. But the territory’s youth will always be at the core of its focus.

“We intend to do other things once we get funding, but clearly we are focused on the youth because we know education is so important,” he said.

“Because a lot of kids don’t have mentors, they sometimes resort to street life and violence. We want to make the Virgin Islands a better place to live,” Mr. Georges concluded.

Members of VILFC include Mr. Georges, Vice President Jouvani Henry Vice, Treasurer Di’Jon Baptiste, Secretary Akil Johnson and Public Relations Officer Nybo Rodgers.

Correction: Sept. 27, 2015

A previous version of this story stated that the nonprofit group, Virgin Islands Leaders For Change, donated the four fans to a 5th grade classroom at Eulalie Rivera Elementary School. However, although this information was provided to The Consortium by Mr. Georges, the group is saying now that the class that received the fans are actually 2nd graders.  We have updated the story to reflected the new information.