Through her newly created Shaunae Miller Cares Foundation, The Bahamas' fastest female sprinter is giving back to the youth of her country in a tangible way.
Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo made a presentation of a PlayStation 4 (PS4) and a few games to the Ranfurly Homes for Children yesterday. Coming on the heels of The Bahamas' first gold medal at the world relays, its first gold medal in a global sporting event at home, and the country's fourth gold medal in the relays at global track meets, Miller said that the time was right to kick her foundation gift-giving efforts into high gear.
The Shaunae Miller Cares Foundation is geared toward assisting underprivileged kids in the community.
"The mindset coming in was to do something special for the kids. Just coming here and seeing the smiles on their faces makes me so excited," said Miller-Uibo. "It's just a matter of giving back to the youth of the country, and letting them know that they have a purpose in life. I'm glad to be able to contribute in this way. Lil' kids is my passion. Once we decided on this, it was full steam ahead."
Miller-Uibo and her teammates, Steven Gardiner, Anthonique Strachan and Michael Mathieu, won the gold medal in the mixed 4x400 meters (m) relay to bring the IAAF/BTC World Relays Bahamas 2017 to a close on Sunday night, at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. They finished in 3:14.42. The United States won the silver medal in 3:17.29, and Jamaica claimed the bronze medal in 3:20.26.
"It's an amazing feeling. I'm still excited from it. Even this morning, I was still getting a lot of great feedback from the Bahamian people," said Miller-Uibo yesterday. "We wanted to put on a show for the Bahamian people, and we did that. I'm just glad that we made The Bahamas proud.
"Everyone was excited about the gold last night. Once we saw the set up, we were happy about it. The goal was to go out there and do our best, and have some fun. We all ran well, and it was just super exciting. We knew that the mixed relay was going to be a fun experience. Luckily, I had all girls on my leg, but Anthonique was a bit unfortunate with that. We knew that if a guy had caught us, we would just have to hold on and try not to panic. Everyone who took part enjoyed themselves and we had a big laugh before and after the event."
Administrator for the homes L. Alexander Roberts said that the donation will certainly contribute toward their use of the recently renovated game room.
"Teenagers these days love electronic gadgets and computer games. We just want to thank CIBC FirstCaribbean who renovated the room for us, and we want to say a very special thank you to Shaunae for making this donation," said Roberts.
Roberts said that the youngsters will be in the game room as long as he allows, as they still have their class work and other activities to do. Almost all of the residents attended the world relays on Sunday night where they had an opportunity to watch Miller-Uibo and her teammates win the gold medal in the mixed relay. On Monday they met her up close.
"It was good for them to see her up close, because almost all of them were at the stadium cheering her and the team on," said Roberts.
The home accommodates young children who have been taken from their original homes because of
unhealthy and uninhabitable conditions -- not conducive for their welfare.
It is the only private or independent home for disadvantaged kids in The Bahamas. Currently, there are 24 residents between the ages of 12 to 18 -- 13 boys and 11 girls.
"Usually, there are about twice as many boys as girls," said Roberts. "Once these kids would have graduated from high school, they have to move on. We're working on a project of building a transitional home where students who have graduated from high school could live at the home for them to get on their feet before being ushered out of the nest, but that is yet to come about."
Roberts said that they receive $106,000 from the Government of The Bahamas each year, but added that, that is just about 20 percent of their total operating expenses which exceeds $500,000 each year. Their main fundraiser is an annual raffle that generates about 70-150,000 each year. They certainly welcome contributions and donations to their worthy cause.
The Ranfurly Homes for Children was opened in 1956 by the late Lady Hermoine Ranfurly, the wife of the then Governor General, the Earl of Ranfurly. Hundreds of youngsters have passed through the doors of the home in its 61-year existence.
As for Miller-Uibo, she leaves The Bahamas today to continue her training in Clermont, Florida. Her next meet will be the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) Diamond League Meet in Shanghai, China. That meet is set for May 13 in Shanghai. Miller-Uibo said that she is definitely going after the 200-400 double at the world championships this year. The 16th IAAF World Championships is set for August 4-13 in London, England.
"Training has been going extremely well," said Miller-Uibo. "I'm just going out there to do my best and represent the country as best as I can. The toughest event would definitely be the 200, having to deal with Elaine (double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson of Jamaica), Schippers (Dafne Schippers from the Netherlands) and Tori (American Tori Bowie). The main focus is still the 400, and then the 200 would be kind of a fun event. It's a hard double to accomplish, but we're going after it."
Miller-Uibo said that she is also looking forward to a rematch with American Allyson Felix in the women's 400m. Felix won the world title in Beijing, China, in 2015, but Miller-Uibo bounced back to take the Olympic title last year. The two will likely meet for a third time in the women's 400m at the London World Championships.
"I'm working hard and looking forward to putting on a good show for the people in London, and the people around the world," said Miller-Uibo.
Miller-Uibo has personal best times of 11.19 seconds in the 100m, 22.05 seconds in the 200m and 49.44 seconds in the 400m, all ran last year. She said that her favorite race is still the 400m, and her eyes are set on breaking the national record in that event in the near future. The national record is 49.07 seconds, currently held by former world and Olympic champion Tonique Williams.
"I'm definitely looking at it," said Miller-Uibo. "Tonique has been telling me that she can't wait for me to get the record, and it would be a great feat to get it. We're hoping for it, and hopefully it comes this year."
Miller-Uibo's 22.05 mark in the 200m is a national record. She said that one of her goals for the 2017 season is to run personal best times in both the 200 and 400m.
As far as the relays are concerned, she said that she will assist wherever she can for the women's 4x400m, and would love to see the mixed 4x400m relay implemented at a major international event such as the world championships.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian