Saturday, May 28 was a most memorable day in the existence of the St Martin Welfare Association. The occasion was the Association's 31 st Annual Breakfast for 400 needy and senior citizens of the East Dry River Communities, including the institutions – Nazareth House, L'Hospice and St Andrew's Home, followed by the distribution of hampers.

The hall was beautifully decorated with balloons and buntings of all colours; the tables were laid and chairs neatly arranged, thus providing additional lustre to the function.

The senior citizens were particularly delighted to have in their midst, His Excellency the President, George Maxwell Richards and his wife, Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards, who headed a number of distinguished persons, including the Archbishop of Port of Spain, Edward Gilbert, the Parliamentary Representative of the area, Eric Willians, Dr Cuthbert Joseph, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Mrs Joseph.

The choir led the singing of the National Anthem which marked the start of the proceedings. The Chairman of the function, Roland Graham, then invited the President of the Association, Frank Cooper to address the gathering.

Mr Cooper warmly welcomed the guests and gave a synopsis of the work and activities of the Association and the problems they are faced with on a daily basis due to insufficient funding for the development of the association. In closing he again thanked the president and all present for attending and making the function a success.

Holy Mass was then celebrated by Archbishop Gilbert, with the choir, including a few teachers of St Joseph 's Convent, St Joseph who are interested in the work of the Association, conducting the singing the beautiful and inspiring hymns.

After the Mass, the Archbishop blessed the breakfast, which consisted of tea, coffee, cocoa, fruit juices, scrambled eggs, coconut roast bake, buljol and corned beef. During the serving of breakfast, the Mighty Bomber sang three calypsoes, which were well received by the gathering.

The choir also entertained the guests with a few songs, which were well known to many, given their lusty participation. The breakfast served was indeed very sumptuous and tasty, so much so that before his departure the President made a short visit to the kitchen in order to congratulate the helpers on a job well done.

The programme included addresses by Eric Williams, the Parliamentary Representative of the area and His Excellency the President, George Maxwell Richards.

President Richards (centre) and his wife Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards at table with Frank Cooper

Minister Williams in a brief address said he supported the work of the Association and was aware of the difficulties they faced. He described the organisation as: persons working through the darkness to achieve. He encouraged the Association to continue, notwithstanding the challenges they were facing.

President George Maxwell Richards, then gave his address. He said he and his wife were pleased to once again attend the Association's Annual Breakfast for senior citizens.

He said they were glad to have the opportunity to meet with members of the Association, as well as invitees for whom the occasion should be a reminder that there were individuals and organisatons that cared deeply about the welfare of persons outside of their immediate family.

He noted that the Association's outreach towards senior citizens, the very young and those in between continued to be a necessary service which he hoped would not be abandoned in the face of the many challenges. He reminded them that help given to just one person could well result in benefit for many others.

The President exhorted the Association that if in their contact with the pre-school and teenage persons among whom they were working they could give them an understanding of their value as human beings and of the role they could play in shaping their communities, they would have done everyone a great service. He urged them not to give up, even though convincing them of this fact might be a major task in many cases.

The President encouraged the members of the Association and their clients to continue the work they had begun. He advised the leaders to persevere in preparing good ground, knowing that good seed, planted and well watered would bear much good fruit.

After the addresses, Claudia Ottley, secretary of the Association, presented Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards, with a beautiful bouquet. This was followed by a vote of thanks moved by Jerome Jones, Trustee of the Association.

He thanked the President and Mrs Richards and the other dignitaries for gracing the breakfast with their presence. He further thanked all benefactors and helpers for their assistance and the senior citizens and the needy for their participation in the proceedings. The distribution of hampers then followed.