My Brother's Workshop Breaks Ground on 1,000-Student Capacity Campus in St. Thomas

ST. THOMAS — My Brother’s Workshop on Friday broke ground on its 30,000 square ft. St. Thomas campus behind Home Depot on the Donoe Bypass that will serve 1,000 students from St. Thomas and St. John. At the event, the nonprofit organization's leaders expressed extreme gratitude to those playing a part in making the campus a reality.

“This is an amazing blessing. This is a miracle from 14 years in the making. This is something that is going to make a lot of difference,” said MBW Founder and Program Director Scott Bradley.

After the invocation from Pastor Jeff Neevel, a board member of MBW, Ty Troutman, MBW board president stated in his remarks, “We are so grateful for everyone's support, MBW has been changing lives in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 2007 and we are very excited for this project that has been in the planning for several years now. All of this has been made possible through the support of the island government, the community and each of you here today. On behalf of the entire organization I would like to thank you for being part of the change to provide our youth a better life path here in the Virgin Islands."

Chrystie Payne, MBW communication director, recognized individuals and organizations that have sponsored the main campus project.

The full list is as follows: the Feuerzeig Family Fund, Secret Harbour Beach Resort, Columba Energy, Lana Vento Charitable Trust, Sharon and Fred Hupprich, Anne and Andy Hemmert, The Marshall Family - In Memory of Bruce Marshall, The Robert and Maureen Sievers Charitable Fund, the Prior Family Foundation, an anonymous "angel donor" and the Stephenson Family.

Ms. Payne recognized the Stephenson Family as the Ambassador of Hope. Annie Stephenson-Hostetler, the Stephenson Family's entities representative, accepted the Ambassador of Hope Award and explained what the project means to her family.

“The vision that Scott [Bradley] and his team brought to our community is so incredibly powerful... for my family, for us, we always considered the communities in which we live and work as part of our partnership, they are part of our lifeblood,” Ms. Stephenson said.