Bridgetown, Barbados — The road to Rio 2016 will be made easier for Barbados Olympic qualifiers following the presentation today of BDS$50,000 (US$25,000) by The Barbados Lottery to long-standing partners and beneficiary, The Barbados Olympic Association Inc. (BOA).
The funds are proceeds from the “Going for Gold” scratch card game, launched November last year at over 230 retail outlets across the island.
Dentonia Brewster, Site Operations Manager at The Barbados Lottery, said that the company’s passion for sports and its desire to help local athletes attain their Olympic dream, were the catalysts behind the development of the scratch card game.
“The highlight of any athlete’s career is to represent their country at the Olympics” he noted. “While we have talented athletes who undoubtedly give of their best, we recognise that the road to the Olympics has its financial challenges. It is our hope that this contribution will ease some of the burden and give our athletes the opportunity to shine and make their country proud in Rio.”
Brewster continued: “Furthermore, our contribution here today marks part of the Lottery’s commitment to sports, youth and culture in Barbados. It would not have been possible without strong teamwork with the BOA and overwhelming support from the public and our valued retailers. Thanks to you all, we are Going for Gold.”
BOA’s Secretary General, Erskine Simmons delivered a message on behalf of President Steve Stoute who was away on BOA business. In the message, Stoute pointed out the challenges surrounding the preparation and qualification of an Olympic team, and said he was heartened by the Lottery’s generosity in creating the new ‘Going for Gold’ scratch card game to support athletes in their quest to compete at the Olympic games.
“Preparing for the Olympics is an extremely expensive exercise and there is never enough funds available to provide the level of support needed, especially when compared to the millions of dollars the bigger countries are able to invest in their
athletes, thus these funds from The Barbados Lottery will be of great assistance,” Stoute said.
Stoute further credited The Barbados Lottery as being the “life-blood’ of the Olympic Movement in Barbados, “The Lottery, through its numerous donations over the years, has allowed us to initiate many projects aimed at fulfilling our mandate of providing healthy, physical activity for the youth of Barbados. We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding partnership with them,” Stoute said.
The new scratch card game has received a strong thrust from the public as proceeds from the game’s sales not only allowed for the $50,000 contribution to the BOA, but also an additional $10,935 to be distributed equally among The Barbados Lottery’s four beneficiaries.