Athletes raise funds in “dollar drive”

If you’re walking down Albert Street on Saturday and find there are more people than normal begging for money, you’re not losing it. A few of them will be members of the Belize Amateur Athletic family, who are trying to raise money to attend the track and field events of the Central American Games in Guatemala later this month. News 5 spoke with national coach for the team, Fred Evans, who is asking the public to donate as much as they can…however little that may be.

Fred Evans, Nat’l Coach, Track and Field Team

“The idea is that instead of having a few people give a lot of money, if we could have a lot of people give a little bit of money, it will amount to the same kind of total. On Monday of this week, the members of the association had a meeting with some of the athletes and informed them that it was necessary for them to find two hundred and forty dollars each in order to be able to go on the trip. And so, this dollar drive will go towards this two hundred and forty dollars per athlete.”

According to Evans, the approximately seventeen Belizean athletes will be competing in over twenty events. In addition to soliciting for funds on the street, the association is also asking business houses to have employees donate a dollar to be matched by management.