St. John’s Antigua- President Kenny “Flipper” Benjamin said the Liberta Sports Club fund-raising venture on Lay Day during the 45th Antigua Sailing Week was a success.
The Liberta Club buy-a-block and beach cricket fund-raiser was held in conjunction with the Sailing Week organisers at Pigeon Point on Wednesday afternoon.
Benjamin said minimal returns were garnered from teams registering to play the cricket match, but major contributions were secured via the buy-a-block drive – making it a successful venture.
“The support that we got in terms of the registration was minimal because we really didn’t charge a lot, but what was good is that a couple of individuals came forward and offered to put substantial amounts into the purchasing of the blocks,” Benjamin said.
“To me it was much more than a fund-raiser for Liberta Sports Club. I felt it was a success and so all in all, to me, we overachieved.”
The Liberta Sports Club will be using the proceeds gained from its buy-a-block fund-raiser to construct a pavilion and continue its development of the ball beef playing field.
Benjamin said the buy-a-block initiative is geared towards getting residents of the Liberta community to play a major role in its overall development.
“The whole situation is about continued development. If you look at what going around Antigua you can see a trend where communities are now realising that they have to do things for themselves,” Benjamin said.
“Communities want to develop their communities themselves with little input from government and there is more than one reason for that. While government may own the lands, you want ownership of your infrastructure and so our block drive is a continued process.
He added, “We will be going through the Liberta community house by house because we want everybody to be involved. It’s not a case where we are going to put some blocks on a trailer and have someone buy the blocks; we are doing it a bit differently. We are coming to you in the community for you to give us a block out of your yard or for you to purchase a block.”
