History
In 1969, two members of the Lyford Cay Club, Robert Blum and William Robbins, formed ‘The American Friends of The Bahamas’, a non-profit public charity with tax-exempt status under the US Internal Revenue code. Its purpose was to create an effective vehicle for the distribution of philanthropic gifts within The Bahamas. In 1979, the name of the organization was changed to Lyford Cay Foundation, Inc.
The Canadian Lyford Cay Foundation, a Canadian non-profit charity, was established in 1977.
In 1982, the Foundations made a small but successful entry into offering scholarships to Bahamians studying abroad. Soon thereafter, Royal Little, the former chairman of Textron Corporation and a member of our Board of Directors, put forward a challenge grant of $100,000. It called for the provision of 80 undergraduate scholarships, valued at $2,500 each, for a total commitment of $200,000. The matching funds were in hand within two years.
In 1988, the Little and Boren families offered up a second challenge grant, for $200,000, with the aim of funding 12 graduate scholarships worth $2,500 each. This challenge too was accepted, met, and quickly exceeded. Over time the value of our scholarships has increased, and now stands at $7,500.
The Foundations administer additional scholarships, including the country’s flagship award, the All-Bahamas Merit Scholarship, which is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the Central Bank of The Bahamas.
1993 saw the launch of our highly successful Special Scholastic Assistance Search Programme (‘SEARCH’), which helps outstanding Bahamian students with the college application process and matches them with top schools abroad, and the President’s Scholars Programme at The College of The Bahamas, to secure funding for their studies. So far, SEARCH has helped more than 300 young people obtain in excess of $10 million in financial aid from colleges and universities in North America.
Our Technical Training and Vocational Scholarship Programme, established in 1994, assists Bahamians who seek to acquire or upgrade skills in areas where there is a shortage of well-qualified individuals in the work force. Through this initiative, dozens of people have secured employment in critical fields including automotive, marine and aviation mechanics, construction-related trades, and computer and health care technology.
Another exciting breakthrough came in 1996, when the Foundations began a $5 million, five-year endowment effort to support Bahamians wishing to study at The College of The Bahamas (COB). So far the Foundations have provided more than $2 million to deserving students enrolled at COB.
Our Gifts and Grants initiative, meanwhile, is one of the country’s most prominent and widely respected donor programmes. In 2004, the Committee launched TimeWorks, a volunteer mobilization project based on the principle that the time and talents of individuals can be as valuable as their money. TimeWorks has provided in excess of 3,000 ‘man’ hours to worthy non-profit groups.
We remain extremely grateful for the financial contributions of our supporters, and the efforts of our volunteers who have made all of these achievements possible.
