Donations Needed for Holiday Toy Drive for Children in Need on St. Croix
Let’s bring a little joy into the lives of St. Croix children this holiday season. They, like their parents, have been in survival mode for the past two months – many struggling with no power, many with no running water, little to no schooling or school supplies. We want to help them have a little fun and inspire a few smiles – and we need your help.
We have two toy drives going on right now – two opportunities to brighten a young child’s holiday this year.
One is with the St. George Village Botanical Garden, which is trying to fill the gap created by not having the Toys for Tots on island this year. The campaign we are running in partnership with the Garden is trying to inspire people to purchase at least 500 toys for ages 0 to 18. We’ve created the list and all you have to do is select the toy or toys you would like to purchase, pay for the item and shipping, then they are delivered directly to the Garden, who will then distribute them to the kids. We will make sure to get photos so you can see the smiles you inspire! Read more below about the Botanical Garden drive. (Update: We have closed the Amazon wishlist because of shipping deadlines but we are still accepting monetary donations to cover the cost of purchased toys. Donate with this link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B7LYSVWPFURVS)
The other is with Project Promise – a very unique program on St. Croix that seeks to improve the lives of otherwise disadvantaged youth. This is a more targeted effort to benefit 35 children – which includes Project Promise participants and their siblings. This list is actually filled with requests directly from the children themselves. The situation will work the same as the Garden drive – you buy the toys, and then they get shipped directly to Project Promise for distribution to the children. Read more below about this drive. (Update: We have closed the Amazon wishlist because of shipping deadlines but we are still accepting monetary donations to cover the cost of purchased toys. Donate with this link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B7LYSVWPFURVS)
St. George Village Botanical Garden Toy Drive:
We have an ambitious goal of getting 500 gifts delivered to young people in St. Croix impacted by the two category 5 hurricanes that hit the islands. Help a young person have a great Christmas holiday this year with the purchase of one or more of the toys on this wishlist.
We invite you to be part of putting smiles on these children’s faces and joy in their hearts. Whatever you can donate is appreciated by us all. This is a targeted toy drive for the St. George Village Botanical Garden in an effort to fill the gap from not having a Toys for Tots program this year. The Botanical Garden of the Virgin Islands at St. George Village is helping Santa deliver toys to the children of St Croix who have experienced two CAT five hurricanes. So many of these children lost everything. A lot are living with tarps as roofs. Several families we spoke with are sleeping on floors and trying to get ice food and water on a daily basis since most have no electricity yet. Christmas presents are a luxury unobtainable for them. We invite you to be part of putting smiles on these children’s faces and joy in their hearts. Whatever you can donate is appreciated by us all.
Pick out the gifts you would like to send through this wishlist: St. George Village Botanical Garden Toy Drive (Update: We have closed the Amazon wishlist because of shipping deadlines but we are still accepting monetary donations to cover the cost of purchased toys. Donate with this link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B7LYSVWPFURVS)
Note: Items must have a shipping arrival date of Dec. 15 in order to get to St. Croix in time for processing and wrapping.
Project Promise Toy Drive:
Help us help Project Promise VI build a magical Christmas for participants in this special program! 
These children and their siblings are in need of something special this year and we want to help make that happen – but we need your support today!
This is a targeted toy drive for students and the families that are part of Project Promise. Project Promise is dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk youths through empowerment initiatives, cultural programs, and family services. The Caterpillar Project is the FIRST program of its kind in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Caterpillar Project’s holistic concept is a new approach that engages the children through 9 well organized and developed components. In September 2017 the U.S. Virgin Islands was devastated by two Category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria within 11 days of each other. Our islands and our economy have been destroyed by these 2 hurricanes. Two months after Irma and Maria hit, most of the islands are still living without electricity, countless buildings are uninhabitable, and we are faced with many daily challenges. Many of our residents have lost their homes, their jobs, and all of their belongings. After the storm, Project Promise tailored our program to focus on the healing and invited more children on the island to participate as a result of school closures. The holiday season is fast approaching. This toy drive event will allow the children to have a sense of normalcy despite the many uncertainties they and their families are still faced with during this time of restoration.
Pick out the gifts you would like to send through this wishlist: Project Promise Holiday Toy Drive
(Update: We have closed the Amazon wishlist because of shipping deadlines but we are still accepting monetary donations to cover the cost of purchased toys. Donate with this link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B7LYSVWPFURVS)
Note: Items must have a shipping arrival date of Dec. 15 in order to get to St. Croix in time for processing and wrapping.
Cane Bay Cares is a service initiative of St. Croix-based Cane Bay Partners VI, LLLP. Cane Bay Cares was established after three strong hurricanes, including two Category 5 storms, Irma and Maria, caused much damage to St. Croix during September 2017. The initiative has a goal of providing relief to the citizens of St. Croix. To make this possible, we have partnered with St. Croix Foundation, which is a 501c3 nonprofit that was established in 1990. All donations to Cane Bay Cares are donations to St. Croix Foundation and are 100% tax deductible.
Cane Bay Partners VI, LLLP was formed in June 2009 and founded by internationally experienced business executives with many years of experience in the financial services industry. Focusing our efforts primarily in the financial services industry, our management consulting practice specializes in providing services to clients in need of sophisticated risk management models, debt collections organizations which require liquidation models and analytics, and portfolio management companies desiring a variety of services.
Since 1990, St. Croix Foundation for Community Development has been advancing holistic community development as a pathway to economic prosperity, self-sufficiency, and sustainability. Established in the wake of Hurricane Hugo, today the Foundation is one of the premier place-based philanthropic leaders in the Virgin Islands. Having served as the conduit of over $37 million private and public sector dollars invested into the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Foundation’s impact has netted national recognition in almost every priority area – from economic development and community revitalization to public health, education reform, and nonprofit development. Our mission is to encourage greater philanthropic activity, to marshal resources, and to act as a catalyst to benefit the people of the Virgin Islands.