The Baha Mar donation challenge, given a big push by BahamasB2B.com, has raised more than $30,000 for the Salvation Army. The challenge was originally prompted by a story in the local newspaper on the plight of a single mother who had been evicted from her home due to financial difficulties.
The story of Theresa Gibson inspired Richard English, a Baha Mar executive, to pay for Ms Gibson and her daughter to move into a new apartment in time for Christmas. The generous executive even agreed to pay her rent for the first three months.
Publicity following Mr English’s generosity caught the eye of Sarkis Izmirlian, Chairman of Baha Mar, who then launched the Baha Mar Challenge in aid of the Salvation Army.
Baha Mar agreed to match up to $10,000 in donations to the Salvation Army. The hotel company set up special kettles in the lobbies of its Wyndham Nassau Resort and Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort , on the Cable Beach strip, to collect the donations.
And the donations poured in. Over $14,000 worth within the first 48 hours.
Impressed with the generosity of all involved the BahamasB2B news team published the stories, and within 24 hours of publication on the nation’s #1 website, donations had increased by nearly 100%.
“We received numerous calls and emails thanking us for the extra exposure that we gave the project,” said Niki Bright, one of the webmasters at the nation’s largest website.
Baha Mar delivered a check for $10,000 to the Salvation Army on Wednesday and by noon on Thursday, the total amount of giving, including Baha Mar’s check, had reached well over $3o,000.
The money will go towards funding the many initiatives the charity organization sponsors.
