The 10 cricket teams of Guyana’s leading youth and sports club, the Rose Hall town Youth and Sports Club, MS, (RHTY&SC) in collaboration with the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has launched another project to make a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate in Berbice.
Poonai Pharmacy Under-12, Under-13, Farfan and Mendes Under-15, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Females and NAMILCO Under-21 and First Division teams with the blessings of the family of the late West Indies batting legend has launched the Basil Butcher Trust Project.
With the cooperation of the proactive BCB, the teams have to date shared out over 500 food hampers in the West Berbice, New Amsterdam Canje, Lower Corentyne and Upper Corentyne areas and hav assisted the family of Roopranie Latchminarine of Number 67 Village, whose house fell down during a recent storm.
Secretary/CEO of the RHTY&SC and President of the BCB, Hilbert Foster, stated that the late Basil Butcher was a very close friend of the club and played a major role in the development of its cricket section and charity outreach programme.
The management sought and was granted the permission by the Butcher Family to honour the Guyanese, who played 44 Test matches for the West Indies.
Butcher scored 3,104 runs at an average of 43.10 with seven centuries and 16 half-centuries. His highest Test score was a brilliant 209 not out versus England, while he scored 11,628 runs at the First-Class level with 31 centuries and 54 half-centuries at an amazing average of 49.90.
After his retirement at the age of 36 in 1969, Butcher served Guyana and West Indies cricket as an administrator with great success.
The teams and the BCB intend to assist dozens of less fortunate players with cricket gear under the project, such as batting gloves, batting pads and wicketkeeping gloves, while bicycles would also be given to less fortunate students in an effort to get them to attend school regularly when it reopens after the coronavirus crisis.
Meanwhile, the RHTY&SC with the support of Blossom Butcher has opened a Go Fund Me account in the United States to raise funds for the project.
Foster led an eight-man delegation to distribute the hampers and also handed over a special donation of food items, clothing, footwear, household items and kitchen utensils to the Latchminarine family.
Foster committed the club and the board to assisting the family in the future and wished them well as they try to carry on with their lives.
He urged them to remain strong and have faith in God. The teams also shared out food hampers in the Number 65 Squatting Area, where dozens of families live in deplorable conditions.
The RHTY&SC and BCB over the last four months have shared out 21,000 pounds of chicken, cleaning supplies and hundreds of face masks as part of the coronavirus response programme.
Foster stated that as long as he remains head of both organisations, they would be involved in activities to make a positive difference. The cricket teams would like to express gratitude to all the donors, including NAMILCO, Bounty Farm, Farfan and Mendes and Bakewell among others. (RHTY&SC, BCB)
