On Sunday, community members gathered at the Herman E. Moore Golf Course on the University of the Virgin Islands St. Thomas campus for the 34th annual Afternoon on the Green scholarship fundraiser.
The annual event, part of the university’s Charter Month celebrations, brings together the community for an afternoon of food, music and family activities while raising funds for the Edward Thomas Volunteer Scholarship Fund.
Kyza Callwood, chair of the 2026 planning committee, said the gathering serves as both a fundraiser and a “friend-raiser” for the UVI community. “This is an opportunity, every March, for us to come together and raise money for student scholarships,” he said. “It’s our signature event that people look forward to from near and far.”
Now in its 34th year, the event helps support local students who still face costs beyond tuition. “I know we have free tuition, but you still have to pay for room and board and books,” Callwood said. “The funds from this event go directly to scholarships to help students who want to attend UVI.”
Callwood said the event has endured because it blends fundraising with community. “It’s all family fun, they can let their hair down, they bring their families, and they get a chance to relax and enjoy the day,” he said.
He also credited volunteers, sponsors and university staff who help organize the event each year. “This event couldn’t happen without the volunteers, the sponsors and everyone behind the scenes,” Callwood said. “Everybody works together so we can raise the funds needed to support students.”
University President Safiya George said, “Afternoon on the Green is an annual celebration. Today we celebrate the beauty of UVI, as well as the beauty of Virgin Islands culture with great food, great music and great company. This is a time for the community to come together and bond.”
She noted the event is part of UVI’s Charter Month, marking 64 years since the university was chartered on March 16, 1962. “It’s truly a partnership event,” George said, referencing the variety of chefs and booths that participate, and adding that the day supports UVI’s mission to ensure “people and families achieve social mobility by obtaining their education.”
Tents lined the edge of the fairway as chefs and home cooks gave out plates of kallaloo, fried fish, johnny cakes, and more to steady lines of customers. At one of these booths, procurement assistant and Senate candidate Shenelle “Fina” Francis said she came to support the university and community.
“This is the biggest fundraiser that UVI has,” she said. “I came to donate my services through food, and people love it.” Her menu featured seafood kallaloo, fried kingfish, fried chicken legs, johnny cakes and banana fritters.
Francis used the opportunity to talk with students about civic participation. She said she is organizing a voter-registration drive with the student body government and urged young people to get their names on the rolls. “They don’t have to vote for me,” she said. “I just want them to register, because we’re in a different time right now, and their voice is really important.”
Next to Francis’s booth, chef Al Smith with the Marriott Vacation Club served mango jerk chicken, johnny cakes, hamburgers, and hot dogs, sharing a similar goal of giving back to the community. “Anything to give back to the community,” Smith said. “We are here to support UVI.”
Not all tents on the course were serving food. Under one canopy, children cranked small toy generators and tested solar panels as staff from the University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park explained how the devices tied into lessons on energy and sustainability.
RTPark senior STEM and enrichment program manager Marie Perkins said the organization is working to increase its presence and continue using events like Afternoon on the Green to engage families. “We really want to engage the community,” Perkins said. “Events like this help us reach students and parents and show them what kinds of STEM opportunities are available … I would love to see more of these types of events, where people from across St. Thomas can come together and enjoy food, culture, and the atmosphere in general.”
Faculty, staff, and students from UVI’s schools of business, nursing, agriculture, liberal arts, and more hosted educational displays across the lawn, highlighting research projects, student initiatives, and opportunities. The exhibits allowed visitors to explore the university’s academic programs while interacting directly with students and faculty.
Among the many booths, GRROE USVI Mangroves, a UVI program focused on mangrove education and restoration, invited children to explore and name their own mangrove propagules. Michael, a research technician with the program, said GRROE’s outreach efforts are designed to involve the community in coastal conservation. “It’s about giving people a chance to participate in protecting the local ecosystem, from planting seedlings to joining our Great Mangrove Cleanups around the islands,” he said, noting that the St. Thomas Great Mangrove Cleanup will take place April 18 at Vessup Bay.
At another booth, St. Thomas East End Medical Center promoted its telebehavioral health services. Special projects representative Vanshika Lulla added that telehealth helps reach young people who might otherwise struggle to access care and that the center is working to reduce stigma around mental health services, especially for college‑aged community members. “We try to attend all the events we can,” Lulla said. “We do a lot of outreach, we love events like this.”
Corporate sponsors said they see Afternoon on the Green as a way to invest in both the university and the wider community. Indelible Solutions, a management consulting firm that helps organizations manage federally funded programs and community partnerships, returned this year as a premier sponsor.
“We’re a management consulting firm,” said CEO Joshua Hay, “so when you think about any federally funded program that flows down from the states, we come in to manage those programs from a compliance and capacity standpoint.”
Hay said his company’s work is rooted in making sure resources reach the communities that need them most. “The importance is ensuring that resources get to the communities that really need them,” he said. Supporting UVI, he added, is a natural extension of that mission. “When we started the company, it was always about giving back, it’s a personal extension of my moral values and moral compass,” he said. “There’s no better opportunity than to do that at an institution of higher education.”
For Hay, being at Afternoon on the Green is more than visibility and branding. “It’s not about just posting and advertising, it’s about getting in the community, having these in‑person interactions and really delivering the service that way,” he said, adding that the atmosphere confirmed why Indelible keeps returning. “Every time I’m here on the island, it’s always a great time, good weather and good people,” he said. “This event is going very well, and we’re honored to be part of helping UVI continue to grow.”
