Actor/comedian Steve Harvey shows off some of the equipment he donated to the Barracks Road Primary School last week.

Montego Bay, St James - Students at the Barracks Road Primary School in Montego Bay benefited from the generosity of American actor and comedian Steve Harvey last week when he donated sporting gear valued at over US$30,000 to the school.

The institution was one of the 14 primary schools earmarked to benefit from a learning centre sponsored by the Caribbean Classic Golf Invitational Tournament put on by RISARC.
Harvey was among the list of celebrities who took part in the tournament and who visited the school for a press conference on the event last week.

While there, the comedian looked on as a number of schoolboys, armed with makeshift bats and a tennis ball, engaged former West Indies star opening batsman Despond Haynes in a game of cricket. Later, with the permission of the school principal Almanzo Jones, Harvey took one of the institution's teachers to a prominent sports shop in the resort town and purchased cricket and other sports gear for the youngsters.

"Michael Jackson has a song named 'Man in the Mirror' and a line in the song says, 'who I am to pretend not to see their needs?' And you know, that is important when you see people struggling you can't act like you don't see them just because you got to go or your golf tournament starts in two hours or you got a plane to catch. You can't act like you don't see the needs, especially when it concerns children for me," Harvey said, adding that he and his wife would be returning to the island to adopt a number of primary schools.

Jones has since expressed his gratitude for Harvey's donation.

"It is a very tedious challenge for us to fund the sports programme in the school. In the past we have had a variety of fund raising events to generate funding for the sports programme. With that kind of donation we should be able to do a lot more," the school principal said.

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