She's on the YMCA Board of Directors and a Cancer Society Volunteer but it is Lisa Chote's non-profit Christmas drive that speaks volumes about her social conscience. Indeed she is living proof of the fact that it only takes one person to make a positive difference in the lives of many.

Imagine dedicating four months of the year to requesting, sorting and distributing items like clothes, books and toys to people in rural communities who really need the help.

Chote, 36, has been doing just that for the past six years and her efforts earned her US$25,000 when the First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB) recognised her as an unsung local hero last October.

Not surprisingly, her prize money has gone back into the drive as she paid for storage space to hold the items collected until she could sort and distribute them.

"The first year of the drive was quite impromptu," she noted, "I sent out an email and asked my friends and my family to contribute any gently-worn clothes to the drive. That year I gathered about 2,500 items. Two years ago, it hit 20,000 items."

"Usually, after I collect the items, I sort then deliver them to families in need; in villages from Rio Claro to Mayaro, Nariva and Chaguanas. The drive runs from September to December and I think the response has gotten better over the years because of word of mouth and because we're not asking people for money - we're asking people for things their children have outgrown."

Though Chote readily accepts clothes, shoes and books for her drive, she avoids taking food donations and all donations are screened thoroughly before she distributes.

"My only condition is-if you want to make a donation-let it be things that you would get for yourself or your family if you were poor. If you wouldn't put your child in mashed up shoes, why would you donate them to someone else's child?"

To sort, screen and distribute over 20,000 items can be an exhausting task. Chote said: "On Christmas Day for the past few years, I would make the deliveries, eat lunch by my family and collapse and sleep afterward."

"I'm a wreck when I do this," she added with a laugh. "But I know from September to December I'm always going to be busy so I just deal with it."

Chote herself was born in a rural community halfway between Rio Claro and Mayaro called Union Village. Though her family moved out of the area when she was seven-years-old, she said they have always kept close ties to the community.

However, Chote said, upon returning to the village a few years ago, the abject poverty in the place of her birth touched her deeply and was part of the reason behind her starting the Christmas drive.

"The village looks the same as it did 36 years ago. It hasn't improved in the last few decades. There are kids not going to school, people living in shacks, no community centre, no daycare center no running water-people collect rainwater to drink if they can't afford to pay trucks to deliver more water. It still shocks me to see the conditions people are living under in 2007. It makes you suddenly count your blessings and understand how much you truly have."

When asked why she continues to work tirelessly with these communities year after year, Chote said: "I continue to be inspired by people's generosity in giving and obviously, I do it because I see there is a critical need. I mean, I've seen a family of 12 living in a one-room shack with no lights and no water Kids naked and barefoot and the majority are girls. As a woman I see this and I cringe. I'm just in horror at the need and I'm not an NGO and I have no desire to be an NGO-I just do this as my Christmas Drive."

She also credited her parents, former high school principal and her faith for her compassionate ways.

"My parents are both socially conscious individuals. My dad used to be a cooperative officer and people would come to him for help for various reasons. When women in the village went into labour, their families would come calling at our gates for dad to carry them to the hospital. My mom still is a teacher. They come from a culture of service and I learned from them."

She continued: "I went to St Augustine Girls High School At the time, Anna Mahase was the principal and if you learned nothing else, you learned you had a responsibility to your society. I'm also Presbyterian and I believe the church has taught me to live like that as well."

If you are interested in donating items to Lisa Chote's Christmas Drive, send her an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it