Students raise $4, 500 in BEF’s $20 Challenge

Twelve schools and 60 students participated in the Charity component of this year’s Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF) Challenge. The students raised $4, 500 which was donated to 22 charities such as the Barbados Heart and Stroke Foundation, Breast Cancer Society and Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society, to name a few.

This is the 7th Annual Charity Event inspired and sponsored by Scotiabank whose Manager, Customer Experience, Andre Marshall, says the event takes the development of young people to another level and encourages them to recognize the importance of giving back to their communities.

“In keeping with our commitment to developing our young people, it is also important to expose them to the benefits of giving back as this provides a unique sense of purpose by helping others, hence this Charity component to the $20 Challenge was created since 2015, to forge a community minded spirit in the budding entrepreneurs. Students select their charities to which donations are given – either cash (a percentage of their profits) or in kind, where students give gifts or volunteer their time to work with the charity,” he noted.

The Charity component is part of the overall BEF’s $20 Challenge, which aims to inspire and generate as much interest as possible amongst students about the idea of being an entrepreneur while learning key enterprising skills. Students are provided with a loan of $20 and given eight weeks to use the money to create a profitable, innovative and /or community minded business. Each team is encouraged to make a charitable donation.

This year 17 schools and 175 students took part in the Challenge, and 37 businesses were formed. At the end of the Challenge students submit a business report which shows their thought processes, decisions and actions. It includes basic accounts, financial statements, and lessons learned.

Mr Marshall adds that Scotiabank values investment in young people. “That is why we support programmes that help them improve their education and employment prospects so that they can increase their economic resilience, enabling them to get on, stay on or [climb] up the economic ladder,” he noted.

Judging of the businesses takes place on March 4, 2023 and the awards ceremony is planned for March 25, 2023.