About Us

Working Towards a Better Tomorrow

Like many Barbadians, we departed the shores of our native Barbados with much uncertainty, but with high expectations of making a better life for ourselves and our families. We left behind our culture, heritage and many family and friends. Barbados is an island of few natural resources; however, our people are rich in pride, heritage and tradition. Our future home away from home afforded few opportunities for fellowship with other Barbadians and to enjoy the culture with which we have become so familiar. As a result, descendants of Barbadians who were born abroad, often mature with little knowledge and understanding of their culture.

The objectives of the Barbados Association of Tampa Bay Inc. (BAOTB Inc.) are to bring Barbadians living in the Tampa Bay area and surrounding communities closer together. We will foster our culture and our heritage and share our uniqueness with people of other cultures and nationalities. We will serve as a liaison between Barbadians living in the Diaspora and Barbados. We want to familiarize our children with our values, culture and heritage. We will attempt to keep Barbadians in our local community apprised of events and situations in Barbados. We will work closely with the Barbados Government and representatives at the Consulate General of Barbados at Miami. We will facilitate and disseminate answers and clarifications to the many questions and issues which are often experienced by Barbadians living in the Diaspora. We will sponsor/promote a variety of social/community events throughout the year which will connect you and your family with other Barbadians and other community organizations.

The BAOTB was formed in 2009 and we have approximately 50 active financial members and hundreds of Barbadian and other supporters in the Tampa Bay and surrounding areas. We are committed and dedicated to the causes and charities we support. Our primary objective is supporting charitable agencies whose focus is on cancer. Our accomplishments include:

Partnering with Cancer Support Services (CSS) and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados to help Barbadians suffering from cancer.
Partnering with Moffitt Cancer Center and the M-Power outreach program to support minority and underserved members of our community.
Partnering with Caribbean American Medical Education Organization (CAMEO) to provide medical assistance to our Caribbean family in the islands.
Participating in the “Relay for Life” sponsored by the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen “Walk for the Cure”.
Established an educational Endowment Foundation at Hillsborough Community College (HCC).
Partnering with the Coalition for the Barbados Association of Central Florida to adopt two villas at Give-Kids-the-World (GKTW), a wish granting organization in Central Florida. GKTW grant the wishes of children suffering from terminal or life threating illnesses.
We conduct an annual toy drive at our Christmas party; toys collected are donated to needy children at Hope Children’s Home in Tampa.

We host two major fundraisers each year. The Annual Gala is held the second Saturday of June and the “Dance for Hope”, is held the last Saturday of October. All proceeds raised at these events are donated to the charitable agencies we support.