Nail Bay Resort Presents $25,000 Check to BVI Charitable Fund as a Challenge Grant

Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands: Nail Bay Resort presented a $25,000 check to the BVI Charitable Fund earlier this morning, Easter Monday, March 24, 2008 during a special presentation at the brand new Sugar Mill House at Nail Bay, Virgin Gorda including the Premier of the Virgin Islands, the Honourable Ralph T. O'Neal, OBE; the Honourable Elvis Harrigan, Member of the Virgin Islands House of Assembly; Mrs. Edris O'Neal, Director, BVI Red Cross Director; and Mrs. Suzanne Jackman, acting principal of St. Mary's School. Additional special guests included Mr. David V. Johnston, owner, Biras Creek Resort and Rik Blyth, General Manager of Biras Creek Resort.

Prior to the presentation of the check the Premier cut the ribbon to open the final phase of the paved internal roads within Nail Bay marking the completion of the Nail Bay Infrastructure Project. Most of the secondary roads within Nail Bay have been paved in concrete, all the utilities were placed underground and generators were installed to automatically provide stand-by electricity to all lots together with a state-of-the art internal water distribution system served by a new desalination plant at Nail Bay as part of a major Infrastructure Project valued well in excess of four million dollars.

This $25,000 gift from Nail Bay will be used as a challenge grant by the BVI Charitable Fund to kickoff a major sponsorship campaign for the 2008 Virgin Islands Winemakers' Dinners, which will be held between July 26th and August 2nd, 2008. The proceeds of these dinners will benefit the BVI Red Cross, St. Mary's School, Virgin Gorda and St. George's Secondary School, Tortola.

Ajit Mathew George, Managing Director of Nail Bay Resort, and the Premier, who are co-chairing the 2008 Virgin Islands Winemakers' Dinners, stated that they hoped that the $25,000 gift would inspire the business community in the BVI along with those who owned vacation homes and resorts in the BVI, particularly in Virgin Gorda, to make generous contributions to the BVI Charitable Fund. Mr. George said that the goal of the 2008 Virgin Islands Winemakers' Dinners is to raise at least $100,000 in cash and in vacation packages from the community at-large in response to this challenge grant from Nail Bay.

St. Mary's School, which was started over 130 years ago, closed in 1982 and then reopened in 2003. In 2002, Nail Bay together with various villa homeowners within Nail Bay, contributed to the establishment of St. Mary's Learning Center, the BVI's first computer lab. It was open to the general public without a fee to any user. The opening of St. Mary's Learning Center led to the reopening of St. Mary's School in 2003.

Today, St. Mary's School's enrollment stands at 14 in the Nursery class, 7 in the Early Year's class, 17 in the Multiage class, and 8 in the Primary class for a total of 46 students. According to the Premier, who attended St. Mary's School as young child, “the students who attend this school are in effect a microcosm of Virgin Gorda and represent not only BVI Islanders but also the interesting variety of people who have come from all parts of the world to make this small community a truly diverse place.”

Just prior to the check presentation ceremony, the Premier cut the ribbon to open the final phase of paved road network within Nail Bay marking the completion of the Nail Bay Infrastructure Project. This included most of the secondary roads within Nail Bay being paved in concrete after all the utilities were placed underground and generators were installed to automatically provide stand-by electricity to all lots together with a state-of-the art internal water distribution system served by a new desalination plant at Nail Bay.

Mr. George stated that “St. Mary's School's tuition covers only a portion of its actual operating costs. The tuition has been intentionally kept low to allow students from all economic backgrounds to attend this school. While St. Mary's School has been successful in attracting a diverse student population, we have to find creative ways to raise money from this small community that we all call home, whether it is one's primary home or secondary home.”

The BVI Red Cross, which was established in early 1956, recently opened a headquarters in Virgin Gorda. The BVI Red Cross provides a variety of valuable services including Prostate Cancer Screening, Blood Typing & Blood Donor Drive, Medical Equipment Rental Scheme, Home Care Basics, First Aid Training, HIV/AIDS Peer Education Programme and Disaster Preparedness. The first director of the BVI Red Cross was the Premier.

In addition to Nail Bay, which is the presenting sponsor, OHMS a European based firm specializing in Champagne, Fine Rieslings and Super Tuscans together with Allivictus, a Czech company marketing garlic tincture, have become founding sponsors of this brand new culinary event in the BVI. Additional sponsorship opportunities will become available in April.

The 2008 Virgin Islands Winemakers' Dinners will consist of eight private dinners featuring five to seven course gourmet meals prepared by master chefs from throughout the United States and elsewhere. The cuisine will be matched with fine wines selected by some of the best winemakers in the world who will be personally attending these dinners.

The first of the eight Virgin Islands Winemakers' Dinners in 2008 will be hosted on Saturday, July 26, 2008 by His Excellency, the Governor David Pearey at Government House in Tortola. The seven remaining dinners will be held as follows:

• Allamanda Estate, Beef Island, Tortola (www.allamandaestate.com) hosted by Delma and Audley Maduro
• Aquamare, Virgin Gorda (www.VillaAquamare.com) presented by Juan Herrans, Guillermo Paz, Sergio Gomes, Pedro Collazo and hosted by Paola and Dwite Flax
• Baraka Point, Nail Bay, Virgin Gorda (www.barakapoint.com) hosted by Timothy Johnston and Jennifer Bogdany
• Biras Creek Resort, North Sound, Virgin Gorda (www.biras.com) hosted by David V Johnson and Rik Blyth
• Full Circle, Virgin Gorda (www.nailbay.com) hosted by Dr. Maj-Britt and Michael Rosenbaum
• Mooney Bay Estate, North Sound, Virgin Gorda presented by Robert and Susan Cawthorn. Hosted by the Premier, the Hon. Ralph T. O'Neal and Edris O'Neal (subject to confirmation).
• Rosewood Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda (www.littledixbay.com) hosted by Martein van Wagenberg

The 2008 Virgin Islands Winemakers' Dinners will be kicked off by a celebration on Friday evening, July 25, 2008 at the Sugar Mill Ruins of Nail Bay Resort in honor of all the visiting chefs and winemakers as well as the sponsors and hosts. A limited number of tickets will be available to the general public at $50 a person, the proceeds of all such ticket sales will be contributed to the benefit of the Virgin Gorda Centre of H.Lavitty Stoutt Community College.

The BVI Charitable Fund, which was recently established by Ajit Mathew George, is assembling a collection of accommodations to be marketed year round as “The BVI Dream Vacation Collection” featuring a variety of homes and luxury hotel rooms in the BVI. The BVI Charitable Fund has identified a number of charities in the USA and UK who feature silent and live auctions that raise significant amounts of money by auctioning trips to places such as Virgin Gorda and the British Virgin Islands. The BVI Charitable Fund plans to offer a package from “The BVI Dream Vacation Collection” to these charities in return for them agreeing to share 50% of the proceeds from their auctions with The BVI Charitable Fund. Anyone interested in donating a vacation package to “The BVI Dream Vacation Collection” is encouraged to contact Ajit George by e-mail at Bvicharitablefnd@aol.com. Mr. George said that donations of these types of vacation packages would enable the BVI Red Cross and St. Mary's School to continue to provide valuable services to this community.

About Nail Bay, the Presenting Sponsor: Recommended by Frommers and The Best of the British Virgin Islands and named the best value in Virgin Gorda by Travel+Leisure Magazine, Nail Bay offers numerous distinctive villas, apartments and rooms with magical sunset views and three sun bleached, deserted, sandy beaches with great snorkeling. The 148-acre luxury villa resort is nestled below Gorda Peak within a 19th century historic sugar plantation on almost a mile of waterfront. To date over $35 million dollars in villas already constructed. Nail Bay also offers modern conveniences such as ADSL internet service, satellite television and radio as well as DVD players and iPod stations not to mention great dining at the new SUGARCANE bar and grill.

Recently, the BVI Government and the developers of Nail Bay signed a comprehensive Development Agreement to facilitate the development over the next six years a new five star hotel of approximately one hundred hotel units, plus additional hotel spa suites, hotel villas, townhouses and residential villas for sale with a luxury spa and related facilities including a private jetty and ten moorings. Nail Bay is one of the most successful projects in the BVI with over $35 million in homes already built including Sunset Gate, a 25,000 sq. ft private estate, Baraka Point, a 9,500 sq. ft ocean front estate villa which was named one of Conde Nast Travellers's 20 Great Caribbean Villas for 2007 and Sugar Mill House, a brand new replica of a historic sugar mill with curved stonewalls, two separate pools, including a roof top pool with a 360-degree view of the Copper Mine Ruins, Gorda Peak, the Dog Islands, Anegada, Tortola and St. John.