PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Castries, July 22 2021; They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO) – a Taj Weekes Foundation last week distributed 10,000 pounds of foodstuff to households and communities across Saint Lucia. This marks the second shipment of food in TOCO’s ongoing drive to bring relief to families coping with lost income resulting from the dislocation created by the COVID Pandemic. The shipment of foods consisted of dried goods inclusive of grains, sugar, peas and beans, crackers and powdered dairy goods.
TOCO’s first shipment of 3,000 pounds of food to Saint Lucia took place in March this year.
On Wednesday 21st July, a total of six (6) not-for-profit organisations received a consignment of dried goods for distribution to their constituents. These included the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), The Rotary Club of Saint Lucia and Make It Happen Foundation. TOCO Foundation also made deliveries to The Marian Home for the Elderly, Feed The Poor Ministries and the St. Lucia’s Home, for the homeless, and indigent.
The Marchand Community, from where TOCO Chairman Taj Weekes hails, was also assigned a consignment of goods, to be distributed to households where there is need via various community-based organisations.
The Make It Happen Foundation was one of the donors supporting this round of the TOCO food drive. In accepting the consignment for distribution by his Foundation, Director Lucius Lake said
Make It Happen was happy to have partnered with TOCO for this initiative because while it is outside of their immediate focus on police and the fire service, “it is one of the outreach programmes that directly benefits the more vulnerable in our society at a time when it is most needed. The Make it Happen Foundation commends TOCO for this initiative and looks forward to continuing partnerships that benefit the Saint Lucian community”.
Maria Medar, Deputy Director of NEMO, reported that NEMO will channel the goods through the organisation’s eighteen district disaster committees islandwide, to identify and deliver to the most vulnerable and to people with disabilities.
In accepting on behalf of the Rotary Club of Saint Lucia, President Keturah Donai said Rotary “will be partnering with Community Services, whose officers will go into the communities to ensure that the relief supplies reach homes where the need is greatest”.
Over the course of two days, TOCO has also undertook a number of home deliveries in response to direct calls for assistance from needy families to the Foundation.
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About TOCO Foundation
TOCO is a registered 501(c)(3), U.S. based, not-for profit organization with a mission to raise awareness and address the issues that affect Caribbean youth through advocacy and social support. Our broad focus also includes the environment/ climate change, Sustainable Agriculture, Diabetes and gender.
About Taj Weekes
Taj is an unwavering, energetic humanitarian whose dedication extends beyond his song lyrics into his social activism, an activism that has culminated in his official role with the United Nations as “UNICEF Champion for Children” (2013) and his children’s charity, They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO).
Taj Weekes’ humanitarian work has been a staple of his celebrity, using every opportunity to serve and speak on behalf of the children of the Caribbean. He personally travels and distributes donated items to the islands, lectures to high school and college students on topics ranging from volunteerism to acceptance and tolerance, and donates his own money to ensure that TOCO can fulfill its missions. His efforts are at the core of TOCO’s success and in recognition for his work, Weekes was named a Goodwill Ambassador by the International Consortium of Caribbean Professionals in 2007 and by a division of the United Nations. In 2012, he received a humanitarian award from the Saint Lucian government for his work through TOCO and in 2020, he was named a Goodwill and Brand Ambassador for his native Saint Lucia.