Cricket charity match on July 30
Cricket returns to the Island with the fifth annual Shelter Island Cricket Club (SICC) charity match on Saturday, July 30 to raise funds for the Shelter Island Ambulance Fund, which supports the all-volunteer Shelter Island Emergency Medical Services (SIEMS) squad.
The match will take place on the large field next to the Island Boatyard from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with food, drink available from 11 a.m. The Shelter Island team and Rest of the World team are tied 2-2 going into this year’s match. There will also be a kids cricket game during the lunch break from noon to 1 p.m. Food, drink and SICC merchandise will be on sale throughout the day. There is no admission fee but donations are encouraged.
Last year, over 300 people came out and helped raise over $15,000, bringing to more than $65,000 the total raised for the ambulance fund over the years. David Shillingford and Gareth Jones, who organized the event, explained in a news release that, “something that started as a bet around the barbeque one night has morphed into a great annual event thanks to the support of the Shelter Island community.
“One of the greatest things about this event it that it allows visitors and part-time residents to give back to a community that brings all of us and our families so much joy,” they wrote in a statement.
Why do they do this? The cost to run the SIEMS squad is estimated at about $100,000, they said. The Town of Shelter Island covers about three-quarters of the total (about $71,000 in the 2016 budget.) The rest must be raised through donations and grants.
The ambulance corps operated under the auspices of the National Red Cross until it was transferred to the Town in 2012. At that time, it was the only ambulance corps in the country still run by the Red Cross. Founded in 1931 by local residents under a charter issued by Herbert Hoover, then honorary president of the National Red Cross, SIEMS is staffed by some 30 volunteers who service the needs of the 2,400 permanent residents and nearly 10,000 residents during the summer months.
Plan to join in the fun, rain or shine, on July 30. Meantime, the SICC can also be found (and liked) at facebook.com/ShelterIslandCricketClub and at SIcricket.com.
