Trinidad and Tobago cricketer, Kevon Cooper, with the help from his celebrity friends, held a Christmas party for children of The Margaret Kistow Children’s Home and St Dominic’s Home at the George Boyce Recreation Ground in Arima, on Sunday.
The event, called the Super Cooper Smile Charity event, included a football match between local celebrities. Cooper, speaking about the event, said, “We invite two homes in Arima – Miss Kistow’s Home and St Dominic’s Home. We had a big Christmas party for them and we had a charity football event going on at the same time.”
Cooper said a number of his fellow national athletes including his half brother Kevin Molino, who is a national footballer, participated in the event.
“We had players like Joevin Jones, Kevin Molino, Mekeil Williams, Alvin Jones, Brent Sancho, Keshorn Walcott, (and soca artistes) Voice and Preedy.”
Cooper, who held the event for the third time, also got support from local musicians who performed at the party. “We try to get celebrities in sport and in music coming together to put a smile on these children faces. They were real happy to see performances from Ziggy Rankin, Preedy, Asten Isaac and Jah Melody.”
Cooper felt he needed to give back around Christmas time because sometimes children in homes are forgotten. “I think it was important (to give back) because it is Christmas time. Everybody concentrate on their homes and people don’t really concentrate on the children in the homes – people tend to forget them. What we try to do is put a smile on their faces.
We make hampers, last year we gave microwaves and ironing boards.”
Cooper added that he and his team try to provide appliances for the homes that they could not afford during the year. “Sometimes they miss certain things, so we try to provide things that they will miss during the year around Christmas time.”
Originally published in the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday