(CaribPRNewswire)- The 111th running of the Penn Relays is still about two months away but officials of Team Jamaica Bickle, the non-profit group that provides assistance for Caribbean athletes and officials participating at Penn, are launching their 10th anniversary celebrations in less than two weeks.
Irwine Clare, founder of the volunteer organization, said this week that the celebration of the milestone will be held on March 17 at the National Stadium in Jamaica, during the annual Boy’s & Girl’s Championship games under the patronage of Senator Deika Morrison, Jamaica’s minister of state in Finance and Planning and an alumnus of the University of Pennslyvania. The annual games will be held from March 16-21.
The TJB celebrations continue in Philadelphia on March 22 with a ‘Caribbean Night’ at Sabrina’s Café, 910 Christian Street, Philadelphia and the ‘First Friday Caribbean Art Festival’ at Art Around, 2011 Chestnut Street, also in Philly.
This will be followed by a TJB-Philadelphia reception, slated for either April 7 or 8 and a fundraising reception set for April 15, where VMBS, Western Union and Tower Isles Frozen Foods are among the entities set to be honored for their contributions, at a press reception at the Jamaica Consulate in Manhattan. This year, TJB is being presented by Jerk Q-zine of the Caribbean Foods Delight.
On Sunday, April 24, TJB officials will host a 10th Year Thanksgiving Church Service at the New Testament Church, which will be followed on April 27 by a community forum, in Philadelphia.
“This year is about recognizing the people who’ve made it happen over the past years,” Clare said. “It has been a rather quick ten years, made possible primarily by the support of a core group of volunteers, like Blane Stoddard in Philadelphia, and corporate sponsors, especially VMBS, Western Union, Caribbean Food Delight, Tower Isles and the Consulate of Jamaica, UJAA, and several community businesses locally and in Jamaica, and we’d like to officially thank them.”
Usain Bolt, Aileen Bailey and Olympian Veronica Campbell are just some of the athletes TJB has cared for in the past years.
The 2005 Penn Relays will be held April 28-29-30 at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania. Last year, 112,701 attended the event. Many included Caribbeans, particularly Jamaican immigrants, who flock to the relays in droves to support their local athletes, who have broken many records at the annual event.
