St Christopher Children’s Home gets $70,000 donation from Zuliani family

The son of St Kitts and Nevis ‘tourism trailblazer’ Archie Zuliani has continued his father’s philanthropic tradition by presenting the St Christopher Children’s Home with a cheque for EC$70,000.

The donation is expected to significantly enhance the lives of the 14 children who presently reside at the home.

Alceo ‘Archie’ Zuliani – the Canadian business man who helped dramatically expand the federation’s tourism industry – died last month aged 77.

He became a fixture in the local community through his employment of hundreds of Kittitians and Nevisians, as well as through his longstanding charitable contributions to organisations such as the St Christopher Children’s Home, to which he provided Christmas lunch and gifts and monetary donations on an annual basis.

During the 1990s, scores of students throughout St Kitts were the beneficiaries of Archie Zuliani’s scholarship fund that covered their uniforms and textbooks.

The cheque presentation, which took place at the children’s home in Cardin Avenue, Basseterre, was attended by Prime Minister Timothy Harris Minister of State in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender Affairs, and Social Services. Wendy Phipps.

The management, staff and residents of the St Christopher Children’s Home were also present.

John Zuliani, who is the president of Trans-Americainvest (St Kitts) Limited/Royal St Kitts Hotel, said the funds were raised during an event that was held in Canada last month.

“We were able to do a fundraiser, which is generally known in the Italian community as a ‘stag’ for a new couple – for my fiance and myself, we are getting married next year in February – and we decided to contribute all the funds raised from the stag to the children’s home in memory of my father,” he said.

“So in essence, it will be my father’s last contribution to the children’s home and our family’s continued commitment to supporting the children’s home here in St Kitts.”

‘Genius of Zuliani'

Administrator of the St Christopher Children's Home, Margaret Stevens, used the occasion to express her profound gratitude to the Zuliani family for its continued support of the organisation over the years.

“We are a non-government organisation so we are very dependent upon contributions such as these,” Stevens said.

“We have an annual run/walk, which this year is 7 October, which is our major fundraising event which enables us to keep the doors open, so a donation like this from the Zuliani family is a blessing and we hope that these blessings continue to flow.”

During the presentation, the prime minister extended his own words of appreciation to the Zuliani family for its generosity and extended contribution to the St Christopher Children’s Home.

“We see this as a mark of perhaps the genius of Mr Zuliani, that of all the things that he could have contributed to, he chose the St Christopher Children’s Home, he chose to invest in the future of St Kitts and Nevis because that is what the children represent for St Kitts and Nevis and all over the world,” Harris said.

“This is an effort to ensure that none of our children, no child, is in fact left behind and so the government fully endorses this programme.”