– carrying on a tradition started by Alison Butters-Grant

AN extraordinary woman with a passion for giving stumbled upon the rural village of Victoria, where she fell in love instantly with the children in the village during her search for lands to establish her seafood business on the East Coast of Demerara.

In 2017, Alison Butters-Grant and her husband, Kerwin Grant, journeyed to the coastline in search of lands to develop further, their business, Global Seafood. She was able to find a perfect plot of land in Victoria near the seawall.

As she began to interact with the residents of the village, she fell in love with the people and of course the children who were very warm and welcoming to her during her visits. Alison then decided that she wanted to give back to the children of Victoria and contacted the Victoria Youth Organisation (VYDO), a local youth group in the community, and held the first ‘Merry Christmas, Merry Children’ Christmas party.

Unfortunately, in 2018, Mrs. Butters-Grant fell ill and passed away. However her husband and the President of VYDO, Anthony Samuels, decided that they should continue her legacy by not letting her memory and love for Victoria fade away.

On Sunday afternoon, Butters-Grant’s husband and VYDO collaborated to host the second ‘Merry Christmas, Merry Children’ Christmas Party at the Victoria Community Centre, treating over 100 children with gifts and goodies and a surprise appearance by the man himself, Santa Claus.

The event was a buzz as the children gathered at the community centre, played games and sang Christmas carols to celebrate the season.
Mr. Grant stated that his late wife was and extraordinary woman with a big heart who found joy in giving back to the community.

“Remarkable woman, I miss her dearly, she was the one who had this vision to have this party. It was her love for children and for this village that motivated her to do this,” he stated.

Mr. Grant further stated that because of his wife’s love for the community, he wanted to do something special to remember her and he decided to make the Christmas party an annual event in memory of his dearest love.

Additionally he stated that he will continue to invest in the village to aid in its development by providing employment for many of the youths in the community with the establishment of his seafood business.

In addition, Samuels stated that, while his encounter with Mrs. Butters-Grant was brief, she was truly an extraordinary woman, who placed others before herself.
He noted that she really loved Victoria, and was dedicated to helping residents in the community in whatever way she could.