The hardworking cricketers of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS (RHTY&SC, MS) have handed out hundreds of food hampers to less fortunate and single parent households as they hosted the annual Naeem Nasir Memorial Tribute Programme.
The cricketers with the support of the club’s management, led by Vice-President Mark Papannah and Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster, prepared the hampers, which consisted of a number of food items, including rice, sugar, salt, split peas, black eye, channa, cooking oil, toilet paper, potatoes, garlic and onion.
Assistant Secretary/CEO Simon Naidu, Papannah, Club Captain Eon Hooper and national junior cricketer Jonathan Rampersaud visited several villages in the Lower Corentyne area to identify the list of families to receive hampers based on their financial income, living conditions and children living in the house.
Special emphasis was placed on simple parent households.
The RHTY&SC, on an annual basis since 2013, has hosted a programme in memory of the late Bakewell CEO and Founder.
For the first seven years of the programme, a cricket tournament was organised, but with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the organisers decided with Bakewell to distribute food hampers instead of hosting another cricket tournament.
Additionally, club members were involved in an internal essay competition on the topic: ‘How youths can contribute towards the development of a green economy.’
The top three winners would receive attractive prizes.
Foster, who is also the President of the vibrant and progressive Berbice Cricket Board, disclosed that the 10 cricket teams of the RHTY&SC and the BCB have surpassed the combined distribution of over 6,000 food hampers.
He stated that the Naeem Nasir Memorial Project is a special one for the club as the late Bakewell Chief Executive Officer was a special friend and sponsor.
Bakewell came on board as an official RHTY&SC sponsor in 2000 and has pumped millions of dollars into the development of the Rose Hall Town Under-17 and Second Division teams.
The two teams have won over 20 cricket tournaments combined and produced dozens of national and Berbice players, including Assad Fudadin, Royston Crandon, Eon Hooper, Shemaine Campbelle, Clinton Pestano, Kevlon Anderson, Kevin Sinclair, Junior Sinclair, Shawn Pereira, Erva Giddings, Sheneta Grimmond, Shabika Gajnabi, Jonathan Rampersaud, Mahendra Gopilall and Jeremy Sandia.
Meanwhile, popular Rose Hall Town businessman Ryan Tillak on Friday last handed over a large quantity of school bags to the 10 cricket teams in memory of his late friend Lorenzao Johnny. Johnny was a very successful businessman in the township before he was brutally murdered in February.
Johnny was an honorary member of the RHTY&SC and was also part of the club’s charity programme. The school bags would be shared out under the Lorenzao Johnny Educational Memorial programme. Office Manager Joel Pike expressed gratitude to Tillak for his support and assured him that the school bags would be distributed to less fortunate students from single parent households.
The 10 cricket teams of the RHTY&SC, MS are Poonai Pharmacy Under-12 and Under-13, Farfan and Mendes Under-15, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Female and Namilco Thunderbolt Flour Under-21 and First Division. (RHTY&SC)
