Humanitarian Function to honor Barbadians

By Stan Walker

The Cricket Hall of Fame’s second annual Humanitarian Award function is scheduled for Saturday, June 2 at a venue to be announced. This year’s honoree will be the island of Barbados and it is anticipated that either Prime Minister Owen Arthur or the Barbadian Consul General located in New York will be the featured guest. The recipient for the award will be announced soon.
The international outreach of the 23-year-old organization is not only just for the sport. Being conscious of the fact that cricket remains one of the only uniting force left in the islands, the Hall of Fame’s members, who are mostly West Indians, last year established the humanitarian award function designed to give back some meaningful support and help to the lands of their birth.

Jamaican Consul General Dr. Basil Bryan was the first recipient of the award. Dr. Bryan was honored for his hard work and unstinting contributions to Jamaicans in the region. At the function $5,000 was raised for the charity of his choice, the Boys’ Town institution in Jamaica. The Boys’ Scout movement in Jamaica also benefited from the event. Earlier The Cricket Hall of Fame responded to an appeal made by the consul general and raised over 400,000 surgical gloves for health workers on the island involved in the care of AIDS inflicted infants.

The Cricket Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, growth and development of the game throughout the United States.