A charitable organization that reaches out to young men through baseball yesterday received Kerzner International’s most prestigious community service award and a $20,000 grant to further assist in its initiative.
The Freedom Farm Baseball League is said to play a major role in teaching young boys the fundamentals of baseball while providing them with leadership skills for their overall development.
To date, Freedom Farm has assisted in sending more than 20 young men to school in the United States. Presently, 300 boys are enrolled in the programme.
“For years, we have been reaching out to the public and young men in our community through the sport of baseball, so we are very happy to see Kerzner International give us a hand up and help us continue to develop young men,” said Gregg Burrows, founder of the baseball programme.
“We’ve never been a part of anything like this-I just want to say thank you and hope that this continues.”
Mr. Burrows said the money will generally be used to purchase new equipment – bats, balls, and shoes, etc – assist with the upkeep of the programme’s facility and provide funds for the young men when they travel.
The Freedom Farm League was one of 29 local charitable organizations that received a total of $160,000 in grants during Kerzner International’s 7th Community Service Awards.
The awards are divided into eight categories: arts and culture, education, youth related services, social community service, civic community service, senior citizens, sporting and special health services.
Each of the remaining organizations received a $5,000 donation, bringing Kerzner International’s total donation over the past seven years to over $1 million.
This year’s winners for arts and culture include the Bahamas National Youth Orchestra, Track Road Theatre Foundation, The Bahamas Dance Theatre and The Bahamas National Youth Choir.
The winners for the education award include the Hopedale Centre, and P.A.C.E. (Providing Access to Continued Education), a programme that helps pregnant teens.
The youth related services award was presented to the Ranfurly Home for Children, Bahamas Children’s Emergency Hostel and The Grand Bahama Children’s Home.
The winners in the civic community service category include The Bahamas National Pride Association and the Wild Horses of Abaco Preservation Society (WHOA).
The awards for sports were presented to the Bahamas Sailing Association, the Bahamas Junior Golf Association, the Bahamas Cycling Federation, the New Providence Softball Association and the Dolphin Swim Club.
The recipients of the special health services award include the Cancer Society of the Bahamas (Eleuthera Branch), the Bahamas Institute for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (BICAMH), Reach Resources and Education for Autism and Related Challenges, the Bahamas Infant Stimulation Programme, Crippled Children’s Committee and Kids Under Construction Academy.
The Mary Ingraham Intergenerational Care Centre was presented the senior citizens award.
Harborside Resort at Atlantis presented two special awards to Special Olympics Bahamas and the Crisis Centre, which is expected to use the money for this year’s green ribbon initiative, a school based violence prevention campaign.
The social community service award was presented to the Bahamas Association for the Physically Disabled, Drug Action Services and the Royal Bahamas Police Dependents Trust. The Trust helps the families of officers injured or killed in the line of duty.
“The Trust has determined that the best way to help the children of police officers who have been killed or severely injured in the line of duty is by helping with their education,” said Dorothy Phillips, who accepted the award on behalf of the organization.
“So we give schooling allowance for all children who attend public schools. We pay the school fees for children who attend private schools. We presently have three of the children at tertiary level institutions and as the children get older we expect that this number would increase. This past month, we issued cheques to 30 children.”
Kerzner’s Senior Vice President of Administration J. Barrie Farrington said the donations come at a time when good things are often overshadowed by news of global conflicts, the prospect of a pandemic and poverty.
“In many ways, we live in a world of disturbing uncertainties, but you who represent various organizations bring certainty to the good that people are prepared to do in helping others, certainty in making our communities better and certainty in the promotion of family values, ideals, principles and beliefs,” Mr. Farrington said.
“You make us all want to be better human beings. You should always remember that good work is done by good people.”
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
