The Tobias Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in the Caribbean & globally through sport, environmental awareness and tourism initiatives.
The idea for the Foundation was born when Clarance Tobias, a Trinidad and Tobago past triathlon champion and two time Coast 2 Coast winner decided to use half of his winnings from his second Coast 2 Coast race in 2008 to buy running shoes for the children of his home community Toco, Trinidad, who were keen to follow in his footsteps but were unable to purchase the appropriate footwear. He was encouraged to expand the project by his colleague Richard Tang, who reflected that, as athletes, they all had at least two to three pairs of sport shoes that they would not mind donating if they would be put to good use by others and he felt there were many other athletes in a similar position.
The members of the Foundation earnestly believe that every child should have the right to participate in sports and other physical activity as this is vital to their holistic development, and it fosters physical, social and emotional health and wellbeing. Hence, the Foundation will seek to do this through the implementation and management of a range of separate but complimentary projects and the Save a Sole Project has been adopted as the first Project of the Foundation.
Our Mission
The founding objectives of the Tobias Foundation are:
- Enhancing the quality of life in the Caribbean through sport, environmental and tourism initiatives;
- Facilitating education in environmental awareness and promoting active participation in the development of healthy and environmentally harmonious lifestyles and communities;
- Utilizing programs developed through sport and environment initiatives as vehicles for sustaining Sport Tourism and Eco‑Tourism;
- Identifying sporting talent within the Caribbean with elite athletic potential.
Sponsors and Partners
Deloitte Trinidad & Tobago, located at 54 Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, Port of Spain was formerly R.D. Rampersad & Co. and was founded on March 1, 1979 by the current managing partner Ramdath Dave Rampersad. The practice was run under Mr. Rampersad until May 1, 2004 when Rikhi Rampersad and Derek Mohammed were admitted as partners. Currently Mr. Rikhi Rampersad is the Office Managing Partner of Deloitte Trinidad & Tobago (T&T). All partners of the firm are practicing members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad & Tobago.
Deloitte has provided company sponsorship to Clarance Tobias in his capacity as a national triathlon/multisport athlete since 2007. Having seen his sporting potential and resilient character with a deep devotion to his home town of Toco and other rural areas, Deloitte provided its full support from inception by assisting in administering the Save a Sole program and using the office as a Collection Point, which remains to this date and more recently has assisted the Tobias Foundation by our NGO as part of its Impact Day in 2014 assisting with the painting and refurbishment of the 20ft. office/storage container. Deloitte is also a primary sponsor of the Tobias Foundation Cricket Team initiative.
New Earth Organic Enterprises
New Earth located at 80 Roberts Street, Woodbrook, Trinidad is a health food/grocery store that carries organic local and imported produce, free range eggs (no hormones or antibiotics), cereals, flours, bulk peas, beans, rice, quinoa, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, as well as ecofriendly personal care and cleaning products.
They can be contacted on (868) 622-3643, newearthorg@gmail.com or on their Facebook page for updates on what’s in stock; Bring Your Own Bag policy is in full effect. See New Earth Organics’ video below for a store tour and more information on what the store sells: