Handz and Hart Group Hosts Annual Community Day and Back-to-School Drive

On Saturday, the community organization Handz and Hart Group held its community day in the Majestic Alley community of Belize City for the third year in a row. The event featured food, music, and play areas for the neighborhood’s children. The Handz and Hart Group also used the event to distribute school bags with school supplies to students as part of a back-to-school initiative. Michael Francis, director of the organization, said that the bags were sourced through various means including a collaboration with the Love Foundation and the Angelus Press. Francis says that the community day is focused on giving the children a safe space to enjoy their last bit of summer vacation.

Michael Francis, Director, Handz and Hart Group: “The bags here I have a different variety for the different age range and the bags came through our own fundraising and asking different people to support us and also with am major contribution from the Angelus Press who gave us a couple schoolbags of significant value to give within our community. We’re a community hub created through the Love Foundation so most of what we do we work in collaboration with the Love Foundation. Well throughout the year we have guys that do different works like arts and crafts and try to sell them, do food sales, we wash cars, we do different stuff to try generate a little income so that we can support our program. We have after school program too also that we cater for the kids within the community, help them out. Within the afterschool program we try to provide a little meal so that the kids could actually have a solid meal. As you can see the kids are having fun and that’s basically what it’s all about. For the kids to have fun and free themselves up where it’s not a normal that you would see a bouncy house in the middle of the community and the kids having fund and festivity so it’s just like a day they’re on summer break so it’s one of the bays they could actually enjoy the summer too and get their school supplies.”

The initiative was supported by community members, who pitched in to help cook, serve food and supervise the children.