Home|Sports|Clarke pleased with donations made to hostelSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailDecember 29, 2022 121 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Two-time Bahamian Senior Women’s National Tennis Champion Sydney Clarke held a successful third donation drive for the Bahamas Children’s Emergency Hostel on Friday past.
This year, she said she did not have a lot of time to plan the event but it came off as a success.
“With the little time that I had to put it together, I felt that the support was there. A lot of people donated and I was able to get some new donors. That was very good and I appreciate everyone who made a contribution in helping to get the donation drive to get to where it is.”
The 21-year-old said there were a lot of Christmas presents and toys donated. Persons also donated food items such as macaroni and cheese, tuna, cereal, spaghetti and vienna sausage, she said. Disposable items were also donated.
“Everyone who got involved was very happy,” Clarke said. “Some are looking forward to donating next year and wanted to know how they can continue to make an impact throughout the year. It was great that I got to meet new people from this.”
Although this year was not as big as the others, she is looking forward for ways she can improve it, such as getting more hands on deck.
“For the fourth year, I plan on doing it bigger and better and like the first year, like have a drop off location. I will look to try and promote it even more to get the word out to the various media. I have done a great job running it myself but the more people to help me the better,” Clarke said.
Currently, Clarke is in her junior year at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) where she plays tennis on a full scholarship. She said she feels good to be doing her part in helping out in the community.
“I do a lot of community service at school. It’s something I enjoy doing and I feel as though when I give back, it just transfers over. I just love helping people and it’s also because so much people help me. I feel as though it’s just my duty as a citizen – to do what I can and make an impact in some way,” Clarke said.
The junior is home for the Christmas holidays to be with family and friends. While here, she competed at the Giorgio Baldacci Open National Championships last week. She defended her national title but was unsuccessful in repeating as champion as she fell to Elana Mackey in the women’s championship.
The avid Junkanooer will return to school early next month as the UAB Blazers return to action on January 15, 2023, when they face the Mississippi State University Bulldogs in Starkville, Mississippi.