Jeffrey,

Jeffrey, I have recently taken over the fund-raising for Cy Thompson who is a young St Thomian who just qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016 sailing in the Laser, a one-person sailboat. In a discussion with Cecile about how I might go about this and who to approach, I mentioned that I have one local EDC guy who has agreed to match someone at $1,000 a month for 2015 (a year when Cy not only needs to train without interruption but also race at the Pan American Games for which he has also qualified) and the budget for the year is $9,000/ month, not including airfare as those costs have been separately contributed. I asked Cecile if she thought this was something you might consider and her reply was that I should ask directly which I am happy to do. Cy is a third generation St Thomian and his grandfather was on the first VI Olympic sailing team in Mexico 1968 (my first Olympics). Cy was a national collegiate champion and qualified right after college for the London Olympics where he finished in the middle of the fleet. He has kept training, won the Canadian Championships earlier this year and then was the only sailor from a small country to qualify at the World Championships, held this year in Spain, for the Rio Olympics. Only 24 countries (about half of the ultimate field) were selected. He recently won a Silver Medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games where he was just beaten by the Guatemalan sailor who was 9th at the London Olympics. With proper support and, most importantly, good coaching, Cy can race at the top of the fleet in Rio. There are just not very many VI athletes in any sport who can compete for the VI at the very top of the field in their sport and that is why I have taken on the task to help raise the money Cy needs to get where he can get. He works hard, has the skills, and now needs the coaching and equipment to be ready. I have never asked you directly or indirectly for this kind of help for anything in the Islands, and I do trust that you will understand why I am doing so now, but I do hope you might be willing to help. Happy Hanukah and I do hope all is/are well. Paul EFTA00583944