Determined to not let her son’s death be in vain, the mother of 22-year-old Isaiah Hospedales has established a charity fund to assist families who have also lost loved ones to gun violence.
Hospedales was shot and killed on Ariapita Avenue in Port-of-Spain on July 23 after robbers attempted to snatch his gold chain.
The Isaiah Hospedales AKA ‘Papi’ Charity Fund will provide counselling, financial and emotional support to families who have endured similar tragedy, a release said yesterday.
Isaiah’s mother, Avis George-Hospedales, said the idea to embark on this initiative stemmed from a conversation she shared with her son a week before his killing.
“In that resounding moment, Isaiah, a budding chef and lover of life, expressed a desire to do more to improve the lives of others. My son will not be another statistic. I won’t allow his life, though surreptitiously cut short, to be easily forgotten,” she said.
The release said the fund will endeavour to ease the burden in which ever way possible for families whose lives have been drastically altered because of gun violence.
“To provide relief to those who need it the most, we will partner with non-governmental and community-based organisations and other local bodies,” his mother said.
Hospedales was described as a “fun-loving, generous and ambitious young man who worked alongside his parents in the family’s catering company.”
The family is in the process of registering the charity and establishing a governance structure that would ensure the smooth and transparent operating of the fund.
The offering collected at Isaiah’s farewell service on July 29 will be deposited to the charity and will be matched by the Hospedales family.
Anyone interested in donating to the Isaiah Hospedales AKA ‘Papi’ Charity Fund can contact Shaheeda Sylvester at shaheedasylvester@gmail.com or 480-8296.