Wayne Lawrence (right), LIME's vice-president of marketing, hands a cheque to former world record holder Asafa Powell during last Thursday night's launch of A Night On Tracks concert set for December 20 at the National Golf Academy. The concert is being staged by the Asafa Powell Foundation to raise funds to help upcoming Jamaican athletes. - Contributed
THE Asafa Powell Foundation (APF) has begun the roll out its annual fund-raising projects, with the announcement last Thursday night of its first event, A Night on Tracks, a concert featuring a host of local acts. The concert is set for December 20 at the National Golf Academy in New Kingston.
The concert was launched at the Sky Terrace at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston.
A Night on Tracks is being described as a Christmas and family concert and organiser promise that the confirmed acts will provide a night of clean and refreshing music. The artistes confirmed include Elephant Man, Tanya Stephens, Nadine Sutherland, Tarrus Riley, Freddie McGregor, Cherine Anderson, Alaine, Wayne Marshall, Omari, Konshens, Lenya Wilks, Romain Virgo, Ras Penco, Raging Fire, Bryan Art, Martin Heritage, Jessica Yap, Chino, Chris Martin, Duane Stephenson, Rootz Underground and Dance Xpressionz. Dancehall icon Beenie Man has been approached but is yet to be confirmed. They will be backed by the Dean Fraser All-Star Band.
Artiste thrilled
"I am so excited to be involved with such a positive venture," said Alaine. "Asafa is a role model for a lot of young aspiring athletes. He has set a great example that hard work and perseverance gets you big results and he is now paving the way for others to follow in his footsteps. It's going to be a great concert for a worthy cause."
Sponsors, too, expressed their pleasure at being involved with the efforts of the APF that will use the funds raised from the concert and other projects to be announced, to assist upcoming athletes from schools and clubs to realise their dreams of becoming world-class athletes.
"SportsMax is happy to be associated with the event," said Tanya Lee, regional marketing manager of the media entity. "We applaud the forming of this foundation which gives back directly to the sporting community. We are more than happy to be on board for such a worthwhile cause."
In addition to SportsMax, other sponsors include LIME, GlaskoSmithKline, Supreme Ventures, Nestle, CVM TV and Guardsman.
Plans for the event
The concert organisers have promised to transform the golf academy into the Bird's Nest where Powell won his first gold medal in global competition as a member of the world recording setting 4x100 metre relay team. There will be a red carpet area called The Track, an area called The Stands, the Finish Line, designed for local and overseas athletes, as well as the artistes and sponsors.
Tickets to the event will go on sale tomorrow. VIP tickets will cost $3,000 presold and $3,500 at the gate, while regular tickets will go for $2,000 presold and $2,500 at the gate.
Fans of Asafa - currently the third fastest man of all time - can get autographs from the legendary sprinter on the night, and there will be a stall set up from which they will be able to buy Asafa-related souvenirs.
Last Thursday night's event was attended by several entertainers, journalists and executives including Dean Fraser, Alaine, Cherine Anderson, Tanya Stephens, LIME's corporate communications manager, Camille Taylor, LIME's vice president of marketing Wayne Lawrence and Dr David McBean, CEO of CVM Television.