BARRETT TOWN, St James — Over 100 children in the Barrett Town area between the ages of five and 16 were recently treated to football gear valued at over $200,000 by Robert Hemmings, a former resident of the community now based in the United States.

Hemmings, a former Cornwall College daCosta Cup football player who is now a computer software programmer residing in North Carolina, made the presentations earlier this month.

The official handing over which had to be delayed due to bad weather was made to the Rose Hall Basic School, the Rose Hall All-Age and John Rollins Success Primary schools.

The gifts included football boots, shirts and balls.

This was the third annual donation to be made by Hemmings who earned a football scholarship to attend Howard University in Washington, DC.

“I feel compelled to give back, as someone had given to my life when I was at that stage and had serious needs,” he told the Observer West.

While some of the cost came out of his pocket, Hemmings said the majority of the gifts came from donations into his non-profit organisation Help to Impact Life, which is also based in North Carolina.

Among those who he said helped to contribute to the gifts this year were the EuroSports Pass Back programme and Ingemar Lanevi.