U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Lisa Johnson with Minister of State for Transport and Aviation Hope Strachan, Royal Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Roderick Bowe, EKS Day volunteers and athletes representing Special Olympics Bahamas.
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Nassau, Bahamas -
For
the fifth consecutive year, the U.S. Embassy partnered with Special
Olympics Bahamas to host the annual Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day
celebration at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence on Saturday,
September 27. As in years passed, the front lawn of the residence was
transformed into a “Mini Camp Shriver” where hundreds of Special
Olympics Bahamas athletes and volunteers enjoyed a morning of fun, food
and games. The event served as an opportunity to
honor the legacy of the founder of the Special Olympics organization,
the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who spent her life committed to people
with intellectual disabilities.
With
the theme “Play Unified to Live Unified”, U.S. Embassy volunteers led
by Chargé d’Affaires Lisa Johnson joined with Special Olympics Bahamas
volunteers, family members and representatives
from partner organizations to promote social inclusion and the spirit
of volunteerism. Participating partners included the Bahamas Football
Association, Bahamas Olympic Committee, American Women’s Club, Eleuthera
Special Olympics Program, Royal Bahamas Police
Force, Bahamas National Council for Disability, REACH, the Kiwanis Club
and Stapledon School for Special Needs Children. The EKS Day youth
activities included bocce, soccer, tennis, egg and spoon competitions,
sack races, face-painting, dancing and the always
popular dunk tank where athletes enthusiastically took turns for a
chance to “dunk” U.S. Embassy volunteers into a large water tank.
On
hand to participate in the EKS Day celebration were Minister of State
for Transport and Aviation Hope Strachan, Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry of National Security Carl Smith, Royal
Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Roderick Bowe and Marketing Manager
Yolanda Pawar-Bain at Marco’s Pizza, a proud sponsor of EKS Day. The
U.S. Embassy would like to thank all volunteers, athletes and Marco’s
Pizza for their dedicated efforts in making this
year’s EKS Day celebration a success.
U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Lisa Johnson with Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Carl Smith and National Chairman of Special Olympics Bahamas Ms. Ana Maurisa Christie.
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U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Lisa Johnson, Minister of State for Transport and Aviation Hope Strachan, Royal Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Roderick Bowe, EKS Day volunteers representing the Royal Bahamas Police Force, U.S. Embassy, and Special Olympics Bahamas.
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