Adrian Fox Bahamas Stepped up to Help people of the Bahamas during Covid-19 – News Anyway

Posted: August 24, 2021 at 10:21 am

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Dr. Adrian Fox, Co-Founder of Island Luck Dr. Adrian Fox is a native Bahamian who works for the betterment of his people. His accomplishments as an entrepreneur have allowed him to expand into philanthropy, and his heart for his fellow Bahamians pushes Fox to empower the underserved.

Dr. Adrian Fox was born on January 12, 1969. He completed both his primary and secondary education in the Bahamas, attending St. Bedes Primary School, then Donald W. Davis Middle School and finalizing his education at R. M. Baily High School.

During his adolescence, Dr. Fox worked diligently in the restaurant industry. He worked at Captain Nemos, the Cafe Martinique and 5 Twins within the Atlantis Resort. Even at this young age, Dr. Fox had a mind for business. He managed a hair salon, a newspaper stand and a phone card business while working himself in the service industry. However, Adrian was working to open and promote even more businesses, including Foxies Restaurant and Bar, Foxies Liquor, and a clothing store called the Obsession Designs.

Seeing the success of his early business as a motivation to keep growing, Dr. Fox opened the Island Luck. Soon, the Island Luck would become the premier gaming and lottery service in the Bahama Islands. Fox would then try his hand at real estate, developing Brickell Real Estate. He also lent his expertise to ILTV and the Tresor Rare Parfumerie.

Soon, Dr. Fox would lend his entrepreneurial spirit to the creation of the Fox Foundation, his personal vehicle for philanthropy. He was inspired to create this foundation after his own personal experiences living through multiple natural disasters, including flooding and hurricanes that are frequent in the Bahamas. However, Dr. Fox pinpoints disasters such as the ecological one in St. Vincent as being instrumental in his desire to provide relief for the Bahamian people.

Dr. Fox wrote in The Jerusalem Post regarding the event: Possessing direct experience of living through a natural disaster . . .I am deeply attuned to the difficulties facing the people of St. Vincent. In 2019, Dr. Fox enlisted Fox Foundation members to commandeer private vessels to assist the citizens of the area. These private vessels assisted in evacuating individuals from the Abaco area. In addition, individuals from the Fox Foundation brought and distributed water and food as well as generators to the people of St. Vincent. Furthermore, the Fox Foundation set up a GoFundMe account specifically intended to garner attention and hopefully donors from around the world to assist the people of St. Vincent.

Dr. Fox has also stepped up to assist the people of the Bahamas during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 and beyond. He believes that the people of the Bahamas should not and must not wait on the tourists who love the Bahamas to provide assistance. Rather, he is diligently working to garner assistance from the European Union and others. He states that an economy such as that of the Bahamas one that depends on tourism to survive has been deeply impacted by both travel restrictions due to COVID-19 as well as a reluctance to travel by regular tourists has seen a significant impact in the last year.

Dr. Fox wants to see improvements to education in his native Bahamas and all over the Caribbean. Furthermore, he wishes to see a growth in economic diversification. Without this, Dr. Fox believes that places such as his beloved Caribbean may see an economic downturn that may permanently disable the region. In countries such as ours . . . (where) the employment highly dependent on tourism, the philanthropic sector has . . . a responsibility to . . . provide innovative solutions to local problems.

Dr. Fox is on the right track with this assessment. The Centre for Disaster Philanthropy has shown that at billions given during the pandemic were donations by wealthy donors. The Fox Foundation wants to provide support that will not only make the lives of native Bahamians better but will work to develop youth in the area, offer disaster relief, and will help to build the community. The Fox Foundation seeks to work with local organizations to make strides in education and to provide training for workers in order to garner economic growth as these youth find jobs in a multitude of areas, not just tourism.

Dr. Fox points to Hurricane Dorian, which was the worst natural disaster in the history of the Caribbean. This natural disaster hit the islands just one year prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and cost billions of dollars worth of damage to the Islands. The IMF had provided a financial assistance package to the peoples of the Caribbean, but this was only a drop in the bucket when considering just how much it would take to rebuild and this was before the pandemic halted much international travel.

The IMF drastically cut growth predictions in the Caribbean in October 2020, and this is where the Fox Foundation and other philanthropic agencies can assist the Bahamian people as well as the entire Caribbean. Because tourism has yet to go back to pre-pandemic standards, it is even more important that the people of the Bahamas, with the help of people like Dr. Adrian Fox Bahamas and other philanthropists, are given assistance to get the economy of the Bahamas and the Caribbean rolling once again.

Dr. Fox and his fellow philanthropists are not searching for donations that might provide immediate relief with no long term assistance in sight. Rather, Dr. Fox promotes establishing a resilient educational program that will help to provide training to the youth of the Caribbean. Dr. Fox believes that a strong educational foundation in all areas of the Bahamas and the Caribbean will raise productivity, bring about not only technological progress but will also foster creativity, and further promote entrepreneurship in his native Bahamas. This is the cornerstone of Foxs efforts at the Fox Foundation promoting educational opportunities in a rapidly changing world.

The Fox Foundation has been in operation for about six years. During this time, the Foundation has brought in more than five million dollars in donations. Dr. Fox puts these funds to work in four major ways. First, Dr. Fox promotes youth development. Dr. Fox wants to see the youth of the Caribbean equipped with skills that they can use in a variety of work situations, not simply the tourist industry. He wants to see alternatives to the service industry, so that natural disasters and economic downturns do not see the youth of his country unemployed. Next, Dr. Fox is a staunch proponent of education for all in the Caribbean. He believes there is no better way to promote the economy of his homeland without proper educations for all.

A third pillar of the Fox Foundation is community building. This has both physical and social constructs. Not only will the Fox Foundation assist in rebuilding areas affected by natural disasters, the Fox Foundation promotes personal growth within the community, working together to make the area better for all residents. A final project of the Fox Foundation is offering medical treatment. The Fox Foundation works to address medical causes, from those caused by living in poverty to those brought on by natural disasters. A healthy population can work and have a better life, and the Fox Foundation wants to see the health of individuals in the Caribbean improve.

According to the IMF, as many as ten to forty percent of those of working age in the Caribbean migrate elsewhere for work. This phenomena is known as brain drain, and it has a detrimental effect on the economy of the Caribbean. In order to prevent losing the best workers from the Caribbean, those at the Fox Foundation promote learning work skills as well as a well-rounded academic education. The Fox Foundation wants to invest in the youth of the Caribbean in order to not only prevent brain drain, but to make the Caribbean a place people want to come to live and to work. If the people of the Bahamas are equipped with the skills they need to help themselves move forward economically, they will not need to leave the Caribbean for another country when it comes to working.

Although its been said many times, Dr. Fox believes that the key to empowering his fellow Bahamians is education. In fact, the education initiatives must be wider and more impactful. Dr. Fox believes with the help of philanthropists from around the world, the educational needs of the Bahamian and all Caribbean children can be met, and then some. However, even though he desires the help of donors from around the world, he wants to begin at home, working alongside the government to build back a better Caribbean as well as a stronger economy for the region. Dr. Fox acknowledges that this is a difficult proposition at any time for the Bahamian people, but the presence of COVID-19 as well as a global reluctance to travel internationally has put a damper on rebuilding efforts.

Dr. Fox believes that the Bahamas can and will have a sustainable future, but the work must be put in now in order to get the most from the natural resources of the islands. A recent study found that The Bahamas has the potential for the highest amount of renewable energy in its region. Near-shore wind can offer much in the way of renewable energy, and it could push the islands out of the economic funk following Hurricane Dorian and the lack of tourism that continues to plague the Caribbean. Pump storage hydro energy just may push the Bahamas to become an exporter of energy. In addition, this could promote agriculture as it could provide fresh water for farming as well as for residential use all over the Islands. Liquified natural gas is also a major renewable energy asset for the Bahamian people. This can power ships that travel in and out of the Bahamas throughout the year.

Dr. Fox is a native Bahamian who wants to see his homeland grow and flourish. He wishes to see the children of his homeland properly educated and able to successfully find work. He will work diligently with his organization, the Fox Foundation, in order to see this come to fruition. After all, his own personal success is a testament to the fact that a proper education along with a strong work ethic can see anyone on the island find success.

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Adrian Fox Bahamas Stepped up to Help people of the Bahamas during Covid-19 - News Anyway

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