Heartline Magazine July - September 2005
Kiwanis present “Silver Dollars”
HFOB volunteer Kaylene Henry
assists in laying of the coins
On Saturday 22d October, the Kiwanis Club of Bridgetown
presented cheques of $7,000.00 each to seven charities from across Barbados, one
being The Heart Foundation of Barbados. The presentation took place at the
Amaryllis Hotel in Hastings, Christ Church.
This was the culmination of the inaugural Silver Dollars for
Charity drive, a fundraising project of the Kiwanis Club of Bridgetown. Titled
“Silver Dollars for Children,” the event took place on Sunday 18th September
2005.
This unique event invited the general public and corporate
Barbados to contribute to a mile of silver dollars to be laid end to end from
the junction of Beckles Road and Bay Street to the junction of Dayrells Road and
the Garrison. The goal was to raise over $ 70,000.00, which was to be used for
the benefit of children through the respective charities.
In addition to the Heart Foundation, other charities to
benefit were: The Barbados Cancer Society-Children with Cancer; The Barbados
Council for the disabled- Children with disabilities; The Learning Centre; The
Caribbean Dyslexia Association and Centre- Children with Dyslexia; The National
HIV/ Aids Commission- Children with Aids and The HOPE Foundation - Children with
Sickle Cell Anemia and Lupus.
On a bright and sunny day there was a steady flow of persons
of all walks of life as well as visitors making contributions, especially in the
morning period. Volunteers from the respective charities manned the route and
assisted contributors in laying coins. The Heart Foundation of Barbados was well
represented by a large contingent of volunteers, led by H.R. and Administration
Manager, Stephanie Catling. Although the ultimate goal was not achieved, the
event was deemed a success, with $49,000.00 collected.
At the presentation ceremony, President of the Kiwanis Club
of Bridgetown, Lennox Prescod said that he was pleased with the response to the
project and looked forward to a bigger and better drive next year. He said that
the project embodied the spirit of what the Kiwanis was all about – that was
serving children.
CEO of the Heart Foundation of Barbados, Adrian Randall
spoke on behalf of the charities and thanked the Kiwanis for their generous
contributions. He said that charities rely to a large extent on donations from
organizations and corporate Barbados for funds to carry out their work, and
noted that the donation to the Heart Foundation was particularly timely since
the organization was about to launch a “Healthy Hearts Club”, which was aimed at
primary school children.
“It is excellent,” he said, “when organizations such as the Kiwanis come up with
projects that assist so many at one time. We at the Heart Foundation of Barbados
were delighted to be part of the project, and pledge our full support, and I am
sure that I can speak for the other charities, in next year’s event.”
The project was the brainchild of Kiwanian Roy Ward, who was
lauded for proposing and organizing the event. He stressed that what was good
about it was that “it allows us to touch more than 500, 600, maybe 1,500
children in one shot.” The money, he said, would go to the benefit of a wide
cross section of children who were sometimes marginalized by society. He vowed
that next year the club aimed to raise even more money by the laying of not one,
but two miles of silver dollars.
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