First Caribbean Bank has made a sizable donation of some ten thousand US dollars to the Department of Library Services. The gift has allowed the Library to purchase eight computers, six of wish will be used by the public and two for support functions.
In a brief ceremony to mark the official commissioning of the computers First Caribbean Country Manager Marie Rey explained that, in October 2007, the bank celebrated its fifth anniversary.

Computer donation by FCIB

To commemorate what Rey described as a significant milestone in its history, the bank gave Anguilla and the other countries in which it operates, a ‘Fifth Gift.’
Ms. Rey detailed that the Fifth Gift was a way to celebrate a business milestone through community giving. She said, in Anguilla, the bank identified a project of national significance in the form of an internet kiosk (booth) at the Library. She was confident that the equipment would be beneficial to “the many persons who will use it.”

According to Rey, when the bank started operating in 2003, it made the commitment to be a “true Caribbean Bank that would not only become the number one financial services institution in the region but would also be number one when it comes to community involvement.” She stated that the bank formed the First Caribbean International Comtrust Foundation. She pointed out that this was the charitable entity of the bank, designed to manage its commitment to social responsibility. Ms. Rey remarked that, as true community partners, First Caribbean Bank demonstrated, in the most tangible way, its commitment to the growth of the community.

Director of Library Services Bernard Wattley believed it was fitting and appropriate that his department took the opportunity to express its gratitude to First Caribbean Bank for what he described as “the bank’s unsolicited generosity.” He voiced his concerns that the computers that were previously in place for patrons lacked quality. He opined that the donation by the bank had contributed significantly to the improvement in the quality of the product offered. “We pause…to say thanks to First Caribbean for its generosity and for picking the department of Library Services as the beneficiary of this generous donation,” Wattley said.

Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Education Chanelle Petty-Barrett commented that First Caribbean “stepped up to the plate.” She said the bank had demonstrated that it was serious about being a good corporate citizen. “There are many institutions out there that like to use the phrase good corporate citizen or civic responsibility but they do not demonstrate their commitment to these principles in a tangible way,” she observed.

Petty Barrett noted that when institutions come forward to collaborate with a Government Department it gave her hope that people and institutions in Anguilla were recognising, more and more, that “we cannot do it alone.” She stated that if the level of service that the public deserved was to be provided in the current financial climate, it was going to take an “all hands on deck approach.”

In thanking First Caribbean Bank, the Permanent Secretary indicated that the Financial Services institution had given the Library Services the boost needed to make information more readily accessible to users. She said the contribution was greatly appreciated and appealed to other institutions to assist the Department of Library Services.
Petty-Barrett ended by divulging that the Department of Library Services intended to establish an IT room for which space had already been identified. She admitted that there was “much work to be done to make this a reality” but recognised that First Caribbean had started the initiative.

First Caribbean operates in 17 regional countries.

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