WE ARE VERY THANKFUL

• Operation Love Thy Neighbor, Los Angeles, California • Skid Row Homeless Community, Los Angeles, California • Inglewood Avenue Pre School Academy, Roger's Park Pre School, Lockhaven Pre School, Siminski Park Pre School, From The Heart Pre School & Enrichment Center (All Inglewood California Pre Schools) • Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, Los Angeles, California • City of Inglewood Children's Christmas Gift Drive, Inglewood, California • Project Charity Begins At Home "Woman To Woman", Bellflower, Inglewood, Gardena, Hawthorne, Long Beach, & Los Angeles California • Project Charity Begins At Home "I Am My Brother's Keeper", Bellflower & Long Beach California • Los Angeles True Passion Motorbike Club (LATP), Los Angeles, California • Love and Unity Church, Bellflower, California • His Nesting Place, Long Beach, California • Bajans and Friends for Health and Education, Norwalk, California • Southern California Foster and Family Adoption Agency • Oh Dem Again, Los Angeles, California • St Brigid's Catholic Church, Christmas Angel Tree Program, Los Angeles, California • Primrose Post Acute Skilled Nursing Home, Inglewood, California • Noel “Fargo” Ferguson Foundation which serves people in need in Southern California and Belize • P.L George Nursery School, Bakau, Newtown, Gambia, West Africa • Educational Supplies to Youth Police Program, Guyana, South America • Christmas Giveaway to the children of S.D Adventist School in Libertad Village, Corozal, Belize • Various Individuals, Agencies and Communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago

2017: Financial Scholarship Awarded to Ms. Junely Merwin

2017: Financial Scholarship Awarded to Ms. Connie Tran

2016: Information Technology "IT" Scholarship awarded to Ms. Breanna Edwards

2016: Financial Scholarship awarded to Mr. Mvusi Dlavana II

Prom is a very special occasion to seniors leaving high school; it's when young ladies dress in colorful formal gowns with corsages and young men dress in tuxedos to celebrate the end of their school academic year at a formal dance.

2017 OCTF provided financial assistance to three deserving high school seniors for their Prom. Very soon they will be heading off to college to begin a new chapter in their lives, we wish them continued success in their studies, (1) electrical engineering, (1) physiology, (1) journalism

2016 OCTF blessed 4 Young Ladies who graduated from high school each with a formal prom dress, shoes, accessories and a glamour bag.

The members of OCTF are very grateful for your support in giving us the opportunity to enrich their lives but most importantly thanks for the memorable experience you have given them.

Congratulations!!! You've come a long way!!! Love ya! Judy Lawrence

Fantastic job. We were able to be a blessing to a young man also this year. Love the work our organizations do. God bless you!! Cali T Ridaz

Ministry outside the four walls!!!!!! I'm proud of Joan and her blessed team! For those of you who are looking to plant seed on good ground.....this organization is a good place to sow! Mellisa Baptiste

Warm Christian greetings in Jesus name, We want to extend our gratitude for the gifts that was provided for our children at our school. They were extremely happy and it was a big blessing. Thank you for your contribution and may God richly bless you. Respectfully yours. Mrs. Haida Clarke, Principal, Libertad SDA Primary School, Libertad Village, Corozal District, Belize, Central America.

I just want to say this was and amazing night of elegance. Truth and realty is not about us Billy what we provide for others. Joan Mc and husband Evangelist and Brother Baptiste your servitude is to be admire. You have the complete support of Love and Unity. Blessings, Bishop Robert Johnson, Love and Unity Church

So sorry I miss your event this time. I will definitely try to make your next event. I love the work you and your organization does to empower the youth and make their world a little easier. I'm with that cause all the way. Keep up your great work. I miss you ladies and gentlemen. Key to Success is hard work. You definitely have the right key. Thank you all for keeping me abreast of your great endeavors. Until we meet again. Stay Safe. — feeling thankful. Patricia Crenshaw

I have tears in my eyes because I didn't believe I was good enought to give my son what he needs even when i work hard. Thank you very very much for helping me with my son's glasses. He got it yesterday. Eleanor Foster

Thanks a million Joan. The winter clothes are lovely, appreciate this very much. The athletes will be happy. Blessings to you and family. Thank from the Special Olympic Trinidad and Tobago Family. Candy Berment

May God continue to Bless,Guide and Protect you as you continue to strive in helping others and putting smiles on faces,while you are faced with Life challenges, you show such Strength in the midst of adversity, you are a Champion!!!,have a Bless 2017. Lydia Patterson

Dear Joan, On behalf of the entire family of L.I.F.E Centre, we would like to sincerely thank you for your kind heart and generosity in bringing treats and presents to all the students at our school. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2017!! Giselle Adams/General Manager

It was a very exciting morning having you with us; you certainly put smiles on the faces of my kiddos. You are awesome. Lillon Ryan

Ok my beautiful Sister. My profound blessings to you for the Love that you give and the joy you share. You are truly bless. Bernard Smith

It is rightfully said that the person who put the needs of others first will be greatly bless in heaven...Aunty Joan you are truly a blessed woman of God...May he keep you doing what you love...Giving to those less fortunate...I Love you. Eleanor Foster

Seeing all the tots enjoying their gifts for the holidays beyond warms my heart. Adriel will be Santa's helper next year lol💗💙 and God will continue blessing OCTF in every way shape and form! Way to go Madame President. Bre Laynn

Good Morning Joan, The event yesterday is yet another success and great blessing to those kids. Inez Sinanan, Womens Federations for World Peace Trinidad and Tobago

Thank you for your organizations generosity and thoughtfulness! You can tell how excited the children are to receive their new books! Thank you for all you do!!! Thank you From the Heart! Betty Luckett

You know I admire the dedication and work that you and your husband have made to children here and in T&T. Marva Herman

On behalf of the parents, patients and families of the Just Because Foundation, we would like to say sincere thanks to all of you who visited the ward and/or donated amazing toys, toiletries, hampers/foodstuff and gifts. Seeing the smiles on their faces was priceless. You have indeed made a huge difference in the lives of these children and their families who are going through the worst possible situation at this time. May your new year be filled with success, health and happiness and may you continue to be blessed as you are a blessing to others. Best Regards",Chevaughn Joseph

Heyyyyyyy Lady!!!!! To God be the glory for the things he has done and for the things HE has allowed you to do with the wonderful organization! Continue the work set before you and be sure to always do it the way God tells you! I am so very proud of you and who you represent! May God continue to bless your ministry and your efforts always! Love ya! Mel'Lisa Baptiste

Great community input I am so proud of the work the organization is doing OCTF.inc I can see how much the contribution was accepted; you are on to what you do best continue the good work. Valerie Phillips

Thank you for your kindness and generosity. I am happy to know that there are people out there willing to lend a helping hand. Ms. Harewood

We are happy to continue to support you in the years to come. May your new year 2016 be blessed with happiness, love, joy and peace, with best wishes. Roseline Poon

It's nice to know that there are still people who take such pleasure in doing special things and making others feel good. Thank you very much Mr. & Mrs. Forbes: Best Regards, April Lewis

Those of you who have generously donated a wheelchair and assisted my brother in making him as comfortable as possible, I would like to say thank you. Mr. Ramroop

You have undertaken a challenge to distribute and present gifts to our less fortunate children in various Communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago, an occasion that they look forward too. This year, we have been able to present forty (40) of our children with toys, which they all appreciated. This was possible, only because you have sacrificed, (in spite of your own challenges) and donated these gifts. We sincerely appreciate your generosity and love for the little ones. Merle Borrell

Awesome Joan! I love all of the pictures of your event. Happy for you and please keep me in touch about your upcoming events. Christelle Telesford

On behalf of the Community, I would like to thank you most sincerely for the donation of medical needs items that were sent to our Community just before Christmas. As a Community we are always eager to respond to the needs of the destitute which in part, includes our hospice for AIDS patients and homes for the dying and aging. We are very grateful to have received these items as there is always a demand in our Ministry that reaches out to many of the poorer areas and villages in Trinidad. This is a tremendous assistance for so many who can’t afford such medical supplies. We ask you please to pass on our thanks to your many friends and benefactors who contributed in any way to this mission of mercy. We pray God's continuous blessings on you and pray that he repay your kindness as only he can. Rosemary Scott

I received your lovely newsletter, You're doing amazing work in the community. Kimlin Tam Ashing

Words can't express how bless we are to be a recipient off your gifts for all the children in my extended family. The expressions on these children’s faces were priceless. I would like to thank you for spreading joy and happiness to our kids. Pheria Payne

Thanks so much for your generosity. Alex Padella

May our Almighty Father, bless this unselfish and generous donation, and may he grant the giver abundant blessings. D’Anne Hutchinson

"WOW. Joan!!! What a great and beautiful job, you and Lloyd are doing. I commend you both for your dedicated and heartfelt deed and for continued work. May God richly bless you both, remove all the obstacles from your way, and make every rough road smooth and every crooked road straight in front of you. May God fill your bread basket and brim it over in Jesus Mighty Name I pray, Amen, and Amen. Joan and Lloyd are courageous, God is covering you, and I plead The Precious and Resurrected Blood of Jesus over you and Tony and your families. Amen. I love you, and wish you peace and joy" Aunty Catherine

Thank you Love,Continue to be the Blessing you are,you bring such smiles to many faces and joy to many hearts,you are an angel. Lydia Patterson

"If past success is an indication I'm willing to bet that the Christmas routine went well in Trinidad and Tobago. Continue to keep inching the flag higher and higher. Regards” Dalton Narine

“It is good to see that the work you do make a huge difference to those who need it. You are awesome!” Charysse Tia Harper

“Many thanks for your continued support to the children of the Just Because Foundation Cancer Specialty Unit. May God continue to bless your Organization as you are a tremendous blessing to others” Chevaughn Joseph

“Thank you very much for the donation of the medical equipment and supplies to the St Michaels Home. Your donation has made the lives of our senior citizens at the home much more comfortable and with the increased mobility made possible with the wheel chairs their periodic visits to the hospital and other institutions are more efficient.” Mr. Francis Bertran

Thank you for inviting me to the fish fry. I had a splendid time. I wish I had bought two more of those red snapper fish; the taste is still in my mouth. God bless you!, Josefa Sealey

Thank you. Hey the food was great. The bread pudding was the way my Mom makes! Brings back memories. Carmen Tongson/Divine Mercy

Dear Mrs. Forbes, The Pastor along with the President, Vice President and Council members of the Canaan Church of the Nazarene women's wish to express our heartfelt thanks to you and your organization for the toys that were presented to children from our community. The gifts were greatly appreciated. We were able to distribute toys, books and games to 44 children - ten kids from 2 to 5 years, twenty-three 6-10 year olds and eleven between the ages 11to 15. Thanks again for your support. God's richest blessings to your organization, Sis Claudia Joseph, President/Women's Ministry

"Hi Joan, I want to thank God for the Gift that you and Lloyd are not just to family, but to others as well. The way you stretch yourselves for others despite the challenges. Collecting and shipping the gifts in itself is a yeoman's task; followed by self-giving". Merle Borrell

OMG I loved the photos. I will definitely share them with the family since they are visiting for the holidays. Carol Seepersad- Greene

"Pictures say a thousand words, what a fine group of kids! I enjoyed them all. Thanks for sharing .All the best to you and family for 2016". Margaret Estwick

"Thank you for all the stationary supplies for my class, I received just before school closed but my students who did exams really benefited from the stationary and I plan to distribute the books to my new class come January". Thank You. Sherlann Peters

"Happy to see you are continuing to do work that's surely pleasing to God and is so needed. Regards to you and Lloyd". Stanley Hunte, Immigration Attache Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago

"Sister, Merry Christmas!!! Thank you very much for beautiful photos. Every picture tells how wonderful the party was. I can see the eyes of the children full of happiness and joyfullness.....so great. I will write about this party on our coming monthly news letter issued by our local wfwp office. Wishing you happy holiday seasons!" Sincerely, Akiko

OPERATION LOVE THY NEIGHBORHOOD would like to thank Lloyd and Joan Forbes for their personal and extremely generous donation for our holiday events!! Thank you so much!! CaliT Unleashed Ridaz

Greetings, I finally made the time to view and read your report. You really stretched that time and got a lot done. I was heartened by what I read and saw. May God continue to bless your good work and the efforts and kindness of all who make this loving gesture and service possible. Shalom, Sister Arlene

Hi Joan, Thank you for the gifts which I distributed in my constituency. Normally as Member of Parliament I hold a Christmas Treat for 300 children and support over 10 groups by way of donations in cash or gifts with their Christmas Treats. Please find some pictures for your record. I wish to thank you once again for your generosity and goodwill and look forward to working with you in the future. Best wishes and God's blessings. N Hypolite

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Forbes, I write this letter on behalf of the communities of Trou Macaque, Laventille/Shrine, St. Dominic’s/Morvant and Corpus Christi/Success Village. I extend my sincere thanks to you and the members of OCTF for your continued generosity in giving toys to the children and toiletries to the young adults of the LMPA communities. We look forward to your continued support. Respectfully, Fr. Dwight Merrick

I write on behalf of the members of Dynamic Young Adults with the permission of our Parish Priest, Fr. Dwight Merrick to extend my sincere thanks to you and the members of OCTF for the generous donation of one hundred dollars ($100.00 US). Your donation greatly assisted us in preparing six (6) food hampers to distribute to needy families in the area, one of which was a fire victim; her house was recently destroyed by fire. We are also very appreciative of the toys that were donated to us for the four parishes in our area (Laventille; Success; Morvant and Toumaque). These toys were distributed to children in the area on Innocents Day. We look forward to your continued support. Respectfully, Gerald Forbes, Group Leader

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Forbes, We at St. Dominic’s wish you every blessing in this coming year and, on our children’s behalf, I thank you for your generous gift which was installed in our Shalom Centre (look for the Shalom Centre on Facebook and learn some more about this exciting program which is doing so much for our children). A lot of changes have taken place at the Home over the years. And there is so much more that needs to happen as the needs of the child, today, are so very different. The fact that you donate to the Home is a source of encouragement for us. Your consistency signifies a real and personal interest in the children in care at the Home, children in difficult family circumstances, and it is a source of encouragement for those of us who work in this off-times challenging ministry to know that there are persons out there who care. Thank you. May the Peace, Joy and Hope of God-Emmanuel (God-With-Us) be yours this season and in the year to come. Shalom, Sr. Arlene

Good morning Joan, Words alone cannot express my thanks to both you and Lloyd for your generosity, kindness and sheer willingness to do whatever it took to ensure that our outreach visit to California and LA in particular was a success. It was my first time there and everything that Stanley, Roxanne, Nyasha and Mrs. Bartholomew told me to expect from you turned out to be even more than I expected. Both you and Lloyd are certainly unique in a country where it's all about self and any service that is provided must be paid for. I suspect though that you will be well rewarded in the future. So on behalf of the Embassy and Ms. Henry many thanks for your gracious support and for myself I want to say that without you and Lloyd it could not happen. You are indeed one of a kind. Kindest regards, Lennox De Leon, Immigration Attache, Trinidad and Tobago Embassy DC

Good Morning Joan, You are such a terrific person with a big heart, and a philanthropist as myself. I look up to you as a mentor and a women with great integrity. Natalie Mignon

Dear Joan, Your generosity and that of your community, of time, labour and gifts at great sacrifice, are well noted and appreciated. Merle Borrell

Thank you very much Mrs. Chanman-Forbes for your diligent efforts to assist Ms. ######. This has not gone unnoticed. Colin Connelly Trinidad and Tobago Embassy DC

Dear Joan, You and Lloyd are doing such great work. I pray that God continues to pour his blessing upon both of you. Love Sandie Edenedo

I am aware that you assist the team on their visits to LA and this is greatly appreciated. Donna Henry Deputy Chief of Mission, Trinidad and Tobago Embassy Washington DC

Thanks for this Joan - this newsletter is very impressive, keep up the good work, talk to you soon, thank you, Neil Parsan, Dr.

Good day to you, God Bless you for the wonderful job you are doing for we the caribbean people. May God always Bless you in whatever you do in life, looking to hear from you, I will also like to meet you in person when the good lord send me to LA. Blessing, Jennifer Henry.

Dear Joan, Thanks for sharing the newsletter my beautiful friend. I think it's outstanding to see people help out in their community, let me know what I may do to help and what I can do for someone else! Shanetta Robinson

Joan. Thanks for all the good work you do. Warm regards, Carole O'Gara

Joan- Good to hear from you, I read your organization's newsletter. It is an impressive line up of events. Keep up the awesome work. I look forward to keeping in touch. Take care, Patricia Zamor, MSW,MHA,PhD.

Hello Ms. Forbes: Thank you very kindly for so much that you did to enable me to get a renewed T&T passport. Could you convey to each of the Embassy staff my sincerest gratitude and heartfelt wishes as they continue such a valuable service. Thanks for being a contact person for me as I seek to support the children of our country. I will contact you as soon as I get there. Thanks again, Arthur Henry

Hi there, The newsletter looks great. These few words, as such, is to say, a special thank you, for the warm heart-felt support in California. It was greatly appreciated. Earl M. Joseph

I should say you are doing a FANTASTIC JOB, Bryan and I truely support you, and will pray GOD bless your every step that you take every day of your life, Amen. Keep up the good work!!! lots of love and blessings. Aunty Catherine

Hi, Blessings to you, your husband and the members of the group. May the Lord continue to richly favour you all with good health, relationships and peace. Love Mina [Grace Community]

Hi Joan. Good morning. This is so good, what you are doing. Service to mankind. Doing it with a passion and joy, as Christ did when he was on this earth. Just know that Yahweh God has his hand on your life, for you are fulfilling his purpose. I salute you. Thanks again for helping me. Well my sistrin, take real care of your self. God bless you. Chris

Joan: Thanks so much for your classy text. I appreciated the thought, though it is I who wish to shower a wealth of admiration on you and Lloyd. What a select organization! I don't think there's any group like yours that put in such dedication and energy into community outreach programmes. Regards to all and keep the pitch pine dry. Dalton Narine

May the grace of God continue to shine upon this organization and bless all of your efforts for your labor is not in vain. Mel'Lisa Baptiste

We are so thankful for you. All of us here at First Book want to say thank you for everything you do for the kids you serve. Every day you support their learning and well being, and use your power on the First Book Marketplace to further our mission of getting high-quality books and resources to children in need. We couldn't do what we do without YOU. We want to lift up all the amazing work our members are doing around the country. It makes us so proud to recognize the impact you have on kids in your individual communities because your efforts strengthen the First Book Network nationwide. Your friends at First Book

Hi Joan. The pics are awsome and i really wanted u to see how great the children christmas party was. We are so greatful to you and we look forward to seeing you again this year. Thanks a million, again. :) Estha Watson

Continued Blessings my dear. Lydia Patterson

Giving is a priceless gift, and the members of OUR CHILDREN THE FUTURE INC are saying thank you! We're expressing gratitude to every volunteer and supporter that gave us their time, effort and assistance, both in goodwill and in contributions. Each and every one of you assisted us with our mission and is joining us on our journey in providing for our children and the basic necessities for the elderly, disabled and homeless, these simple things we take for granted. If you've helped us in any way, we are deeply grateful to you.