The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A NON-PROFT advocacy group helping those with disabilities is holding a post-Mother’s Day event to raise funds for vital causes.

Anne Marie Davis, spouse of the prime minister, is the patron of the Bahamas Coalition of Advocates for Disability Awareness and Service (BaCaDas).

The event will be held at the Myles Munroe Diplomat Centre on May 19, starting at 5 pm.

Attendees can expect performances by artists such as The Anointed Ones, Bishop Lawrence Rolle, IAmStacs and more.

The proceeds from this event will benefit Disability Empowerment Month scheduled for June and Youth Summer Programs.

Proceeds will also enable the support of blind youth delegates to attend the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) convention in Orlando, Florida, this July.

Funds will facilitate the hosting of Camp Inclusion and Beep Baseball programs on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama this summer, providing enriching experiences for youth with disabilities.

Asked how much money was hoped to be raised, BaCaDas chairman and executive director Kendrick Rolle said there are 1,000 seats and the team wants to fill all of them.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the government had reallocated $25,000 from the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities to fund the memorials at Baha Mar for the late Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe.

The move was met with criticism with some noting the community is underserved and in need of more funding.

National Commission for Persons with Disabilities chairperson Nalini Bethel explained the removal of those funds represented a contribution from every unit within Social Services, as well as contributions from other agencies to memorial services.

“We have contribution from tourism. from urban renewal," Ms Bethel said.

"All the portfolio's that the former minister had as part of his portfolio. We divided everything up between all of them. It was really about all the staff that worked with the minister.

"It was a shocking experience for everybody and so they wanted to memorize him in a way, and so we all had to contribute. It wasn't a case of it was just from the disability community. It was everybody.”

Mr Rolle further explained there are a number of disability organizations which the government gives stipends to on an annual basis, but the commission is mainly there to support — not to fully fund them.

“So all organization, NGOs, or entities still have to go there and raise funds independently for their programs and special projects," he said.

"This is really the commission giving support while BaCaDas is taking the lead in their fundraising because the programs with all the organizations the Commission cannot fund that themselves. Social Services cannot fund that themselves and this is us being proactive and raising funding to do programs which we design ourselves.

Tickets are priced at $50 and can be purchased at multiple locations across Nassau, including The Diplomat Centre on Carmichael Road, All Seasons, All Occasions Gift and Book Store at Madeira Plaza, and Quality Home Center stores on Blue Hill and Carmichael Road or Prince Charles Drive.