By Neto Baptiste
A presentation to outstanding athletes at the Antigua Grammar School (AGS) by former student and US 400 metre hurdler, Rai Benjamin, could be the start of a long term initiative by the athlete and his team.
Benjamin, a US 400 metre hurdler and silver medallist at both the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, made presentations to national youth cricketer Jewel Andrew and the schools most promising athlete, Samuel Brazier, during assembly on Monday.
The athlete said the inaugural visit to the school could be a signal of things to come.
“This trip was just kind of a tester just to see and of course, I would definitely love to help out and that’s one of my initiative, Nike marketing. But we have other people that I work with and that’s something that’s big for me, to give back; so today was just something small. I got a tech fit suit and I wanted to do shoes as well, too, but that would probably be in the next shipment as well for the athletes and the kids and stuff like that and so we’ve been doing that; my mom’s been facilitating that,” he said.
However, Benjamin said that the logistics must first be in place to ensure the help gets to the people who need it the most.
“I don’t want people taking stuff from the product; that’s for the kids. It’s very hard with my schedule to get here so, moving forward, I just want to make sure that from a logistics standpoint that things work out and I get the necessary product here that people need and get it to the persons that need it,” he said.
Gale Mason, the mother of Rai Benjamin, said the athlete and his team have always made the effort to give back to, not just his alma mater, but to other institutions.
“A couple of months ago, he sent over some stuff that we shared with Wings Sports Club and we gave some shoes also to the Pares Secondary School, which is my alma mater. Today, [September 5] he went to the Antigua Grammar School and this afternoon we are going to YASCO to do the same thing. Tomorrow, [September 6] we are going to McPond in All Saints, so it’s the start of something. It’s important to give because he got a lot of help. They say it takes a village and I believe in that,” she said.
Rai is the son of former West Indies, Leewards and Antigua and Barbuda fast bowler, Winston Benjamin.
He was a student at the Antigua Grammar School between 2011 and 2012 before attending the Mount Vernon High School in New York, from where he graduated in 2015.