IN maintaining the momentum started in 2021, to encourage people to establish household kitchen gardens, Scotiabank and the SURE Foundation kicked off its partnership for 2023 with a seedling distribution drive in the community of Couva.

In commemoration of the first environmental-focused day for 2023, World Wetlands Day in early February, 50,000 seedlings (tomato, patchoi, melongene, chive, celery, corn, bodi, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and ochro), and 25 fruit trees (lime, barbadine and passion fruit) were distributed to the public.

'We are appreciative of the support provided by Scotiabank to help us make a positive impact on short term food security. These efforts will contribute to changing the taste patterns of local consumers over time.

"Planting of fruit trees will complement this intervention by improving the capture of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,' said Dr Rebecca Gookool-Bosland, president, The SURE Foundation.

Many people expressed gratitude for the seedling packages they received from Scotiabank volunteers.

'To date, through our association with SURE, 567,678 free seedlings were distributed to more than 15,500 households, 50 farmers, 25 orphanages and 30 community groups. We remain committed to sharing their purpose of food sustainability and preservation of the environment,' said Scotiabank's Senior VP and Managing Director, Gayle Pazos.

'We're also excited that our employees showed support for the initiative, volunteering their time on weekends to help see this initiative to fruition' Pazos concluded.

The bank, as part of its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, aims to help educate the public and employees on some of the most pressing environmental issues faced today and raise awareness of opportunities that exist in people's day-to-day lives to make more sustainable choices.

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