The National Democratic Congress campaigned on “Change” and it certainly extends to the Grenadian community in the Washington DC/ Maryland area. As a faithful Grenadian residing in these parts, I don’t believe I should sit idly by while “common behavior” abounds. Persons within the community received telephone calls from the Ambassador, asking us to donate to the Independence Celebrations at the Embassy; some of us receiving these calls have yet to meet the Lady. Many of us gave generously. To my dismay, I received a letter on January 26, 2009, by email, begging us to bring food while informing us as to the diversion of funds. What irks me is that by the time this decision was handed down, most of us had already given to the Haitian Crisis, through legitimate charitable organisations. We know what happened to Grenada during Ivan and how our Caribbean Brothers and Sisters came to our rescue. We also know that the Grenadian Government has earmarked approximately US $100,000, as learnt in the lean Budget presented. We believe in giving; but who can fault me when I say that I am deeply distressed that someone presumed that we would want to divert our monies earmarked for our Independence celebrations. Are the other Grenadian communities around the world or even the Government of Grenada donating their Independence Funds to what is considered a more worthy cause? Has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sanctioned this act? Independence for us is sacred; we fought for it and we have a right to celebrate it with dignity. Maybe the event should have been cancelled, rather than have such tasteless regard meted out to us. Adding insult to the matter is that we are further asked to walk with a cheque made out to the Embassy. How would these funds be accounted for; have the funds we gave been deposited into government coffers? As a retiree from Government service, I know how difficult it can be to place aid monies into the Government’s bank account. It is not always easy to get such monies back. The following is the text of the letter minus the letter head, which seems to be ill-used again: Dear Fellow Nationals and Friends of Grenada, In commemoration of our Thirty-Sixth Anniversary of Independence, the Grenada Embassy will host several activities from February 6th in Washington, D.C. You are cordially invited to attend each of these events. Of special note is the traditional Reception and Art Exhibition scheduled for Monday, February 8th at the Organization of American States (OAS). We invite nationals to join us at this reception in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Haiti who are enduring unspeakable suffering, tragic loss of life and utter devastation due to the earthquake on January 12th. We will dedicate our Independence Reception to Haiti, and funds earmarked to cover the cost of the reception will instead be donated in the name of “Grenadians in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area” to the relief efforts in Haiti, through the OAS Pan American Development Foundation (PADF). In order to accomplish both objectives – holding the reception and supporting Haiti– a catering company will not be hired and instead Grenadians are invited to bring finger-food and drinks, along with a cheque made out to the Embassy of Grenada (please note on your cheque “for Independence/Haiti”). Any food contributions should be limited to hors d’oeuvres or snacks and must be on a platter ready to be served. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister of Grenada, the Honourable Tillman Thomas, Grenada is playing a key role in the international efforts against climate change. In this spirit, the Embassy will be “going green”. As part of that effort, we will stop mail by post and replace it with e-mail and on-line outreach. We are keen to ensure that we continue to reach all nationals and friends in the United States, and have been working to update our Database of Nationals and Friends. Please provide us with your full contact information, even though you may have already done so (see below for details which must be provided in order for you to be registered with the Embassy). This is our last mailing by post. Sincerely, Gillian M. S. Bristol Ambassador There is a context in which good deed should be performed. Right now the fate of ten Americans is being determined because they sought to move a busload of Haitian children across the border without consent. It is to be expected that many would use this unfortunate incident for their own personal gain. Since the relevant person seems unable to listen to reason, because some folks have already made their displeasure known, I am making a public appeal to the Grenadian Government, in particular, The Prime Minister, of whom it is said is of an honest character, to deal with this unwise and ill-advised decision. Regards A True Patriot (The views/opinions expressed in the above article represents those of the writer and not necessarily those of Grenadian Connection).