It was a good day all around, both in terms of the weather,
which held throughout, and more particularly in the result, as the Kiwani’s Club
of Bridgetown successfully achieved, indeed surpassed their target of a mile of
silver dollars, when the Silver Dollars for Children event took place on Sunday
September 24th 2006.
People were asked to contribute to Barbados’ charities by
placing one Barbados silver dollar along a specially cordoned mile of highway
from Bay Street to the Garrison Savannah.
Conceptualized by Kiwanian Roy Ward, the attempt was made
last year for the first time, and fell just short of the mark. This time,
through generous support of individuals and businesses, they made it! And
possibly also made it into the Guinness Book of records.
The unique promotion is designed to raise funds for
charities in Barbados that are concerned with the health and welfare of
children. As an organization that promotes the notion of healthy lifestyles for
children as a means of preventing heart disease and stroke in later life, the
Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados, as one of the receiving charities, was
happy to participate in the manning of a section of the route, and to encourage
contributions from passing individuals and motorists.
Other charities also taking part and who benefited from the
promotion are The Learning Centre, The Barbados Cancer Society, The Asthma
Association of Barbados, The Barbados Council for the Disabled, The Hope
Foundation, The National HIV/AIDS Commission and The Dyslexia Association.
The event co-incidentally fell on World Heart Day and was a
fitting climax to the activities of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados
during Heart & Stroke Week.
The reception and closing ceremony took place at Ocean Park
in Christ Church on Saturday November 18th when, due to the success of the
promotion, each charity received a cheque for $9,300.00
