Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter
TWO HUNDRED and twenty-five children have been given a reason to smile through a $200,000 donation to a local facility which houses and cares for needy youths.
SOS Jamaica on the weekend received a donation from a group of golfers called Road Dogs International and the Coca-Cola Foundation.
The golfers, most of them from Atlanta, are business professionals who have been donating to charitable organisations for more than 30 years. The group donated $100,000 which was matched by the Coca-Cola Foundation.
"Young people need persons like ourselves to enable them to achieve," said Carl Weare, retired executive vice-president of Coca-Cola.
Noting that not everyone was born wealthy, Mr. Weare said the help of others goes a long way to allow others to be successful. "It is always good to give back to the community."
Larry Dingle, an Atlanta-based attorney-at-law and a member of Road Dogs International, said: "For all the success we enjoy, it is also important that we share it with others."
Fund-raising coordinator for SOS children's village, Nadine Williams, said: "In light of the need, especially this year due to the recent disasters of 2005, funding that would normally be available has been affected, hence our need for donations."
DONATION WELCOMED
Ms. Williams said the children's village welcomed the donation from both the Coca-Cola Foundation and Road Dogs International.
Road Dogs International has been active for more than 30 years. The group of golfers travel to golf destinations across the world and make donations to the communities in which they play the sport.
SOS Children's Village is a family-based long-term care facility, operating in Jamaica for more than 30 years. They have two villages, one in Barrette Town in Montego Bay, St. James and Stony Hill in St. Andrew. Both currently care for 225 children.
Additionally, the group operates two youth facilities, located in each city, which caters to 20 children at each facility.
