Deputy managing director of Chefette Restaurants, Ryan Haloute, rewards participants from the Ursuline Convent for their excellent performances in the Fun Run with physical education teacher Donna Gibbs, present. (Picture by Gregory Waldron.)

THE POOR WILL always be with us and in light of that Barbadians need to keep opening their hearts.

This is the word coming from Dame Olga Lopes-Seale, as the popular humanitarian was on hand yesterday to receive the proceeds from the annual Ship Inn Fun Run at the St Lawrence Gap restaurant.

On behalf of her Needy Children's Fun, Lopes-Seale, better known as Auntie Olga, was clearly overwhelmed while addressing those present after collecting a record $43 300 in proceeds from the Ship Inn's general manager, Graham Turner.

"I am very, very, grateful," she said. "I thank you for the trust that you have endowed in me and I assure you that the proceeds that are received from this and other contributors go to very deserving people."

However, despite the encouraging success of the family event, Auntie Olga stressed the need for the continued efforts of the public in not just the Fun Run but in the fight against poverty on the whole, as it is a worldwide plight.

"No matter how prosperous a country is, the poor will always be with us. [You must] keep opening your heart and help the poor in thought, word and deed."

"You have to give back," added Turner in support of Auntie Olga's pleas, citing the need for corporate Barbados to live up to its social responsibility to society.

"You have to give back to those who are in need. Something like Auntie Olga's fund is a great way of giving back to Barbados. We have been doing it for 20 years and we would like to do it for another 20," he said.

The day featured presentations of awards to the leading participating schools in the Fun Run, St Winifred's School and the Ursuline Convent, by major sponsors Chefette Restaurants and the Ship Inn, while artistes Marissa Lindsay and Mike Sealy gave a rendition of Lean On Me.

But the event ended on a bit of a sombre tone as coordinator of the Fun Run for the last three years, Ebonnie Rowe, announced that she was moving on, leaving the charitable event in the hands of event and entertainment producers D L Smith Productions.

"It's been exhilarating because of the amount of support and goodwill and generosity from all across Barbados," Rowe said of the event's
record-breaking year.

"I think it is important for everyone to make a contribution and to assist and support positive initiatives and causes and so the Fun Run has fulfilled that for me in many ways," she said.
(JM)