School board honors Friendship Games founders

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Lakeview Youth Federation’s Friendship Games. In honor of the event’s success, the Malverne Board of Education paid tribute to the organization’s indefatigable founders, Charles Nanton and Colbert Britt, at its March 8 meeting.

The Friendship Games were started in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1991. Fittingly, they took place this year on Jan. 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, at Nassau Community College. The day-long Friendship Games consists mainly of track and field events for students athletes from across Long Island. The Malverne school district partners with the Lakeview Youth Federation to sponsor the event.

Come together in peace and friendship — this is the message of the Friendship Games, according to Nanton, who spoke of the importance of partnership when honored by school board President Dr. Patrick Coonan at the meeting.

“We want to see kids get through life positively,” Nanton told the Herald in a recent interview. It’s all about helping youth reach success, he added.

Nanton said he and 13 others started the federation in 1976 to “fill the void in the Lakeview Community.” Through the nonprofit organization, Nanton and his partners wanted to bridge the gap between the children of Lakeview and the district where they attend school. As the federation has grown, so has its focus on academic and educational progress, as well as physical activity.

The Lakview NAACP branch is a big proponent of the organization. President Bea Bayley said, “Mr. Charlie Nanton has always worked hard to maintain a good relationship with the school district, and, in turn, he has been allowed to continue to use district resources. The Lakeview Youth Federation is a great example of how people can work together.”

But both Nanton and Britt believe their alliance can improve even more.

“We still feel there is more work to be done and thats why we work very hard,” Nanton said.

Along with the Friendship Games, the federation hosts a variety of community events and activities, to instill the federation’s goal of “commitment to youth for a better tomorrow.”