IN preparation of the new academic year, former City Councillor and Executive Member of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNCR) Players’ Club, Andrea Marks, distributed 75 backpacks to primary and secondary school-aged children from Sophia and Liliendaal.

Her back-to-school drive has become a yearly feature, and Marks said she is more than happy to get children ready for the new school term.

“For the past five years, I go out and ask for donation, and I bring to the kids in my community,” Marks told Guyana Chronicle while standing in the ‘E’ Field Sophia Community Centre where the children were anxiously awaiting their haversacks.

“Today, we are targeting 75 children and I am so grateful and thankful to my sponsors like Andrew – he is a member of the People’s National Congress/Reform Players’ Club; he donated 50 of the bags,” she detailed.

Marks also expressed her gratitude to Ambassador Ronald Austin; Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence; and Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, all of whom contributed to the drive being a success.

On Saturday, Marks was assisted by Keisha Blair, another member of the PNC/R Players’ Club. “It is a wonderful task because school will be opening soon, and most parents cannot afford to buy everything, so I am sure they are thankful for this little assistance,” Blair said.
School will be re-opened on Monday, September 2, 2019.