Minister Samal Duggins celebrates 20 years of Finding Your Passion program distributes scholarships

St Kitts and Nevis: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Marine Resources Samal Duggins distributed scholarships this weekend under the Finding Your Passion Scholarship program. The celebration was part of the 20^th anniversary of the event and featured past awardees sharing their experiences.

Minister Samal Duggins shared a glimpse of the event on his official social media, where he noted that the program, since its launch, has touched many lives, and he aims to give back to his community with this initiative in the future.

The awardees for this year’s scholarship were Jaemarli Belle, Brielle Isaac, Dremar Rawlins, and J’Nyka Robins. They received HP laptops along with their scholarship funds. Minister Duggins extended wishes to them for success in all their future endeavors.

The Minster on his social media stated that he will continue his mission to empower youth and let the young people discover and pursue their true passion.

Notably, the awardees of scholarship from the years 2022 and 2023 were also present at the event and shared their experiences stating how the scholarship has helped them to change their lives.

Some of the awardees present at the event included Orrin Hughes, Haley James, Anthony Pedereaux, Kaaliyah Pereira, Imari Liburd, Darnye Williams, Najique Ford, and Treviah James. Minister Duggins noted that listening to the experiences of the recipients was heartwarming.

“Hearing the heartfelt reflections on how this scholarship has impacted their lives truly moved me. It’s rewarding to witness how much it means to them and know that this initiative can shape a person’s future by helping them find their passion,” he said.

The scholarship holders presented a cheerful speech while thanking the authorities for their efforts towards their success. One of the recipients stated that the support has made an extraordinary difference in his life.

Another participant said, “I am just grateful for what you have done for me. The past two years were a great experience I got engaged in exciting events, fun activities, and camps and created lasting memories which taught me a lot along the way.”

Minister Duggins also got emotional to the heartfelt words of the children. He then during his address stated, “20 years ago after a number of successful businesses and several ups and downs, one thing that moved me was that most of our young men and women end up going astray between grade six.”

He further added that he never spent his first income from any business for himself and decided to give it back to the community to which he launched this program.

Minister Duggins concluded by thanking everyone involved in the accomplishment of this project and its successful continuation for 20 years.