Category: Jamaica Observer

PM Holness Hails Work of Corporate Volunteers

digicel-observer-december-14-2016-pg-21

PRIME Minister Andrew Holness has hailed the outstanding philanthropic contributions of corporate entities which have served to engender a culture of volunteerism locally.

He said the Government appreciates the contributions by private and public sector entities and is working to further stimulate and encourage volunteerism in the country.

“As a nation, when we all practise volunteerism, the country benefits,” he noted.

The prime minister was giving the keynote address at the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) 2016 National Volunteer Awards Banquet held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston last Thursday.

He congratulated the six awardees at the event, which was held under the theme ‘Volunteerism as a catalyst for national development’.

The Private Sector Award for Outstanding Volunteerism went to the Wisynco Group; Digicel Foundation received the Non-Profit Organisation for Outstanding Volunteerism Award, while the CVSS Member Agency of the Year Award went to the Jamaica 4-H Clubs.

Justice of the peace and president of the Kiwanis Club of Junction, St Elizabeth, Alethia Peart, received the Marion Ballysingh Award for Outstanding Volunteerism. She is an ambassador for the governor general’s I Believe Initiative in the parish.

The Young Leader Award was presented to 24-year-old Portmore youth leader Neville Charlton, who is the youth director of the Silver Stone Citizens’ Association and also heads his own youth group, Youths Inspiring Positive Change Jamaica. He is also an ambassador in the governor general’s I Believe Foundation and has been impacting youngsters through his Tivoli Gardens Social Intervention Initiative, which seeks to offer mentorship and build self-esteem and character.

Former Lasco top cop, Nadine Grant-Brown, who founded the programme ‘Eve for Change’, received the Public Sector Volunteer of the Year Award. The programme operates through the St Elizabeth Community Safety and Security Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

The highlight of the awards banquet was the induction of international recording artiste and philanthropist Orville ‘Shaggy’ Burrell into the CVSS Hall of Fame.

Burrell is the founder of the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation, through which he is a supporter of the Bustamante Hospital for Children. The foundation has raised more than $255 million to acquire some 1,000 pieces of medical equipment used to treat over 77,000 children eachttp://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/PM-Holness-hails-work-of—corporate-volunteers——-_83460h year.

The CVSS is the coordinating body for non-government organisation’s involved in social development and has a mission to build the capacity of its members and the wider community and to create sustainable alliances.

 

A New Day For Arcadia Basic School

dsc_0677

RELIEF has come for parents with children enrolled at the Arcadia Basic School in St Thomas as a new building, donated by Food For the Poor (FFP) Jamaica, has not only provided better learning facilities but also eliminated the payment of tuition fees.

The building has allowed the baic schol to merge with the primary school in the area, becoming the Arcadia Primary School’s Infant Department and bringing the former basic school under the direct control of Government.

The six-unit building, which was handed over to the school’s administration recently, has three spacious classrooms, bathrooms, an office, a sick bay and a fully equipped kitchen.

FFP donors Tricia and Matthew Miclette, who funded the much-needed building, said their donation was a way of honouring their deceased father.

“My father came from an impoverished family and never gave up, and continued to rise and I wish for the community of Arcadia and the school to continue to rise above and share in the blessing that the Lord has provided,” Matthew told the attendees at the handing-over ceremony.

The Miclettes expressed gratitude at being able to effect change in the lives of students of the infant department.

“We want to thank the community of Arcadia for giving us this opportunity and we want to thank Food For The Poor for opening our eyes to the level of poverty that exists for us to help,” said Tricia at the handing-over ceremony.

A “prize” is how Principal Mavern Downie Galloway described the new structure, while speaking at the handing-over ceremony. She sang the praises of donors Matthew and Tricia Miclette for funding the construction of the building.

“The passion you have has enabled us to tear down a barrier that limits education in this community. Your gift to us is a gift of love. Your passion has brought hope, and rest assured, hope will lead to success,” said the principal.

Member of Parliament Fenton Ferguson, who also addressed the gathering, lauded FFP Jamaica and its donors for their contribution to the education system with their construction of schools across Jamaica.

“I want to say a big thank you to Food For The Poor and the Ministry of Education for accommodating this new strategic action that I believe will be of great value to the education system as they (students) will have greater access to education.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/News/A-new-day-for-Arcadia-Basic-School_83005

 

GOOD COMES FROM FLANKER

Inner-city youth balances work & study, earns bursary

uwidef-scholar-odain-murray

Odain Murray collects his University of the West Indies Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF) bursary cheque from Margarita Morris, administrator and data officer, UWIDEF.

Final year student of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona, and UWI Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF) bursary recipient Odain Murray stands as proof that Flanker — a tough inner-city community in St James — can produce good, educated and hard-working young people.

Murray — who has been on the Dean’s List for the last two years in the Faculty of Social Sciences and now holds a grade point average (GPA) of 3.31 — says while growing up he never gave in to the negative forces in his community, but instead used them as motivation for advancement.

“From seeing what was happening around me and not wanting what was happening around me in my life back then was what motivated me to work hard to get an education,” Murray, 27, told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

Murray aced the Grade Six Achievement Test and was placed at Cornwall College. He successfully completed high school and, in 2007, was accepted to pursue a bachelor’s degree in history at The UWI. He moved to Kingston, but the unpredictable happened — his father died suddenly and he had to put his tertiary pursuits on hold.

“After my father died, I started having some challenges, financially and otherwise, and I had to apply for a leave of absence from UWI in 2009. Then I started working in the performing arts industry,” Murray said.

While working, he realised that there was a huge demand for professionals to strategically market plays in Jamaica. So, he returned to The UWI in 2013 as a part-time student, this time pursuing marketing. UWIDEF has assisted him to continue his studies by awarding him a bursary of $100,000.

“I heard about the bursary while I was at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts. Then I went on the Student Services section on UWI’s website, applied for the UWIDEF Performing Arts Bursary, and I was successful. Being a recipient of this bursary is a good thing for me, especially for someone from the performing arts, because you hardly find this being offered in Jamaica,” Murray said.

“I chose marketing because I realised that the theatre needs proper management with regards to marketing. The new recreational activities most members of our society are drawn to involve parties and not theatre shows. I want to change this. That’s the reason I did not choose music or drama. I chose marketing to get the Jamaican theatre industry out there to a wider audience,” Murray explained.

For nearly two years, Murray has been working as a student assistant in the Marketing, Recruitment and Communications Office on campus, as well as in the performing arts industry.

When asked how he balances his work responsibilities and his school work, he said: “It is a major challenge, but I try to structure my time based on my timetable and when I don’t have rehearsal, I prioritise. I work when I don’t have classes. When it is that assignments are to be completed, I miss one or two rehearsals and try not to stay too late at work. That’s how I balance.”

Murray says he wants to become “a better human being” and when he graduates from The UWI in 2017, he has set his sights on a job with the Ministry of Culture or the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).

He is particularly interested in the areas of policy and business development as it relates to the performing arts.

“The ministry can lobby for new policies and developmental strategies and JCDC has been around facilitating cultural retention for decades, and I could market aspects of our culture which needs promotion,” said Murray.

The young man believes in giving back. Already UWIDEF, his benefactor, has become a beneficiary of his generous spirit. In April, Murray assisted with arranging a benefit performance of Dahlia Harris’

Same Difference, which helped raise approximately $100,000 to provide meals for needy students at the university.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/Good-comes-from-Flanker_80282

 

PwC donates to Haiti

ffp-gleaner-november-3-2016

David Mair (second left), executive director of Food For The Poor, accepts a $250,000 cheque from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) team members (from left) Leighton McKnight, Peter Williams, Recardo Nathan, Gali Moore, Damion Dodd, Rochelle Samuels, Shantel Biggs, Wendy Patrickson, Samantha Morris and Paul Cobourne. The cheque was donated to the organisation during a handover ceremony yesterday at the PwC head office at the Scotia Centre in downtown Kingston. This was part of the company’s larger corporate social responsibility programme, which aims to assist local charities and communities across Jamaica.

ffp-donates-to-haiti

David Mair (right), executive director of Food For The Poor, thanks the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) team for their $250,000 donation to the organisation at a cheque handover ceremony yesterday at the PwC head office at the ScotiaCentre in downtown Kingston. This was part of the company’s larger Corporate Social Responsibility programme which aims to assist local charities and communities across Jamaica. The company said it will be deepening its Corporate Social Responsibility footprint in coming months. The PwC team (from left) are: Paul Cobourne, tax director; Leighton McKnight, territory leader; Rochelle Samuels, executive assistant; and Peter Williams, partner-assurance.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/PwC-donates-to-Haiti_79072

CIBC donates $3.2m to Haiti relief

ffp-cibc

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank announced on Friday that it has donated $3.2 million (US$25,000) to the Haiti Relief Fund to help the country recover from Hurricane Matthew, which hit the island on October 3, 2016.

Half of the sum, $1.6 million, was donated through Food For The Poor (FFP) Jamaica, which is working to distribute food and other supplies to Haiti. The other half, equivalent to BDS$25,000, was presented to the United Caribbean Trust (UCT) in Barbados to facilitate the purchase and distribution of water filters for the community tanks in the areas hardest hit by the hurricane.

The filters, which will be installed in schools, orphanages, prisons and churches, will give close to 1 million Haitians access to safe drinking water, the bank said.

CIBC FirstCaribbean, Managing Director, Nigel Holness said that the bank was “very concerned for the well-being of our neighbours in Haiti”, in spite of the fact that the bank does not operate in that island.

Speaking at the presentation of the cheque to Food For The Poor Executive Director David Mair, Holness said that FFP and UCT both have a respected history of relief work in Haiti, and that was one of the reasons his bank decided to enter the partnership.

He noted that “clean water, food and shelter are a major priority after a national disaster, and we are proud to do our part in ensuring our Haitian brothers and sisters are provided for”.

“CIBC FirstCaribbean must be applauded for their generosity,” said Mair, noting that the humanitarian response from Jamaica has so far resulted in over seven container shipments of canned food, water, and a host of non-perishable items.

Food For The Poor headquarters in Florida, he said, had shipped multiple amounts of relief items as well, and the organisation’s representatives in Haiti were focused on feeding and providing shelter for displaced Haitians and helping them develop sustainable incomes.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/CIBC-donates–3-2m-to-Haiti-relief_78127

Tanto Blacks is Cash 4 Life face

real-rich-4-life-tanto-blacks

Celebrated dancehall ‘Real Rich’ sensation Tanto Blacks is named ambassador and the face of the 2016 staging of J Wray & Nephew Limited’s ‘Q is the Key to Cash 4 Life’ competition.

Blacks will be the main character in all advertisements of the competition, which will give players a chance to win up to $30 million in prize money over the next 14 weeks.

The entertainer, who is well known for promoting a cash-rich lifestyle and positive lyrics, will encourage lovers of J Wray & Nephew Ltd brands to enter ‘Q is the Key’ by purchasing certain 200 ml products and texting the codes on the back of the Q’s label to the contact number provided.

‘Q is the Key’ will be launched today will offer players myriad opportunities to win cash by purchasing Qs (200 ml) of either: Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum, Charley’s JB Overproof Rum, Appleton Special or Campari.

Pietro Gramegna, marketing manager, J Wray & Nephew, said based on discussions, Blacks was selected to be Q is the Key to Cash for Life’s ambassador, because of his cash flow lifestyle that is in keeping with the goal of the competition.

Over the next 14 weeks there will be daily cash prizes of $10,000 and mobile phone credit and monthly cash prizes of $50,000, $100,000, $150,000, $250,000, and $500,000. At the end of January 2017, there will be a grand prize draw in which two lucky winners will be selected for the two prizes of $1,000,000 each year for the next 10 years.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Tanto-Blacks-is-Cash-4-Life-face_77859