Dec. 13, 2001 – Citibank Corp. has awarded a $25,000 grant to the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands for creation of a learning center to prepare low-income youth for careers in the marine industry.
Alvaro Jaramillo, country corporate officer for Citibank, presented the check to Ricardo Charaf, president of the Community Foundation Board of Directors, Tuesday afternoon at the Citibank Computer Learning Center in the Tutu Hi-Rise public housing community.
"Despite the natural geography of the territory the marine industry is an underdeveloped part of the economy of the Virgin Islands," Charaf said. "One of the critical components to developing the marine industry is the education and training of Virgin Islands youth."
The Citibank Learning Center for Marine Sciences will target youth from the public housing communities and the public high schools, said a release from the Foundation.
The center will train local youth for employment with marine businesses and marine-related government agencies. Young people interested in the marine industry will also have access to internships through the center.
Dee Baecher-Brown, executive director of the Community Foundation, said, "We will use money from this Citibank grant to purchase books, CD Roms, computers and other learning tools for a marine science resource library. And, we plan to stock equipment for training and certification in scuba diving and snorkeling."
A site has not been established yet for the newly-funded Citibank Learning Center for Marine Sciences. The center is expected to be located on the East End area of St. Thomas, according to the release.