Sunday 17 December 2017

Reflections of a charity


Serving in a charity is never easy. It always seems that there is more to be done than they are people to fulfill the various roles and activities. Attracting and mobilizing volunteers is a never-ending, continuous process that one cannot become weary of doing. Activities have to be planned and coordinated with the various public stakeholders with whom a charity interacts. Yet...

...when you do get a moment to pause and think, even for a little while, the questions come.


  1. Are we doing enough of the right things to help those for whom the charity was designed to help?
  2. What if family situations change, especially when children are involved, what systems are in place to fill the gap? E.g. Divorces, the death/serious injury of a parent, and the list can go on. 
  3. Coming closer to home; what are we doing other than trying to raise funds to help those with Cystic Fibrosis? 
    1. Meetings have discussed getting doctors certified to assist sufferers locally and reduce at least the travel expenses of having to commute overseas for medical treatment. 
    2. So far, we have been unable to contribute to the global effort of finding a cure. 
    3. Our capacity for at least doing a local diagnostic is far from being able to determine if someone genuinely has CF, without them having to travel overseas. 
    4. We need new fundraising activities as the public grows bored with the current programs. 
    5. Research and development are needed so that we can determine what is needed to enable the foundation to obtain a headquarters, permanent staffing that can interact with the public when volunteers are earning their keep to sustain themselves and their families personally, new sources of donors, sponsors, and other supporters. 
    6. Sound and dedicated administration practices and procedures implemented and sustained to ensure compliance of the foundation in a manner that's timely. Ensuring that we can capitalize on every available incentive that saves leakage of funds. 
  4. Growing the volunteer base so that committees can be well established, and leadership can be changed on occasion to bring in a fresh perspective from others. 
The work of a charity is too important to be trivialized. Are you willing to step up to the plate and function with integrity and interact as a team player? How committed are you to continuous learning and development of networks? 

Stop and think about how you can make a difference via your contributions. Once you're clear on that contact us via www.cfbarbados.org we can use your help.