‘Q Is The Key To Cash 4 Life’ – Enriching Lives For Christmas

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The lives of five lucky Jamaicans have been enriched this festive season, thanks to cash prizes they have won for the month of November in J. Wray & Nephew Limited’s ‘Q is the Key to Cash 4 Life’ competition.

Laffern Anderson, Kervin Bryson and Keisha Bennett were randomly selected as the first, second and third-place winners with cash prizes of $500,000, $250,000 and $150,000, respectively.

When 55-year-old Anderson, who had already won $10,000 in the competition, was informed that she won $500,000, she could not contain herself.

“I can’t even explain how mi feel. Mi really, really glad! I love to buy my white rum and drink it with Pepsi because it drink really good, so this just make me feel even better,” Anderson, who is from Highgate, St Mary, said with a laugh.

Anderson, a domestic worker, explained how timely the cash prize was in helping her to accomplish her goal of finishing the construction of her home.

“I am going to finish up mi house with the money. Mi a poor smaddy, enuh, so me house nuh done yet. Mi a go continue enter because me want to win in the finals come January also, because me have an operation on my eye, and that money woulda do me good,” she added.

Like Anderson, Bryson was over the moon when he was informed that he won $250,000. The 28-year-old who is from Trelawny and works in the construction business said: “I feel good about it. Mi glad mi did buy the flask of [Wray & Nephew] White Overproof Rum and entered.”

“I have not spent the money as yet. What I want to do is to build a one-room, but I have no land. I will try to make something out of it. Mi ah go put it to use,” he said.

Bennett, a nail technician from St Ann, said she has plans to invest the $150,000 she won.

Pietro Gramegna, marketing manager, J. Wray & Nephew Limited, said the company is happy to have enriched the lives of hundreds of Jamaicans with the competition.

WEEKLY CASH PRIZES

“This year we are happy to be providing 14 weeks of daily cash prizes of $10,000, mobile phone credit, and monthly cash prizes of $50,000, $100,000, $150,000, $250,000 and $500,000. In January 2017, there will be a grand prize draw for two persons to each win $1,000,000 per year for the next 10 years,” Gramegna said.

“Already, more than $5,000,000 has been won by entrants from the competition, with our first, second, third, fourth and fifth-place winners of $500,000, $250,000, $150,000, $100,000 and $50,000; 110 winners of $10,000, and 8,540 winners of $100 phone credit for the months of October and November,” he added.

The 14-week competition features dancehall’s Real Rich sensation Tanto Blacks and will award nearly $30 million in prize money between October 2016 and January 2017 to winning players who purchase ‘Qs’ (200 ml bottles) of Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum, Charley’s JB Overproof Rum, Appleton Special or Campari, once they peel their labels, text the codes to the number provided and are selected.

CCRP Shares the Love this Festive Season

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On Tuesday, December 13, members of the Caring Committee of the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP) visited the Golden Age Home in Kingston where they handed over items of toiletries to the residents of Cluster D which were donated by their members at their Christmas Party held on December 6. Here, Morelene Moncrieffe (left), Supervisor of Cluster D accepts one of the bags with the donations from Hanna Dixon.

CCRP Celebrates with PriceSmart at Sovereign Centre

CCRP CELEBRATES WITH PRICESMART AT SOVEREIGN CENTRE: Executives from the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP) (from left) Donna Singh, Marketing & Development Consultant; Jean Lowrie-Chin, Executive Chair; Denise Eldemire Shearer, Honorary Chair and Dorett Linton, Acting CEO, join with Jodi Lee Oakley (center) of PriceSmart in cutting a celebratory cake at the CCRP Christmas Bazaar at Sovereign Centre in Liguanea, St Andrew on Tuesday, December 20. Through the generosity of the management of Sovereign Centre, members of the seniors’ organisation were invited to display and sell their Jamaican made items at a store in the shopping centre during the Christmas season. The space was provided to CCRP rent and maintenance free.

Here are some highlights from the location.

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GraceKennedy Fetes Seniors In The Spirit Of Christmas

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Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

The senior citizens were the ones being feted, gently tapping the desk or rocking to the beat of Christmas carols as they caught up with friends from neighbouring communities at the De La Vega Community Centre in Spanish Town, St Catherine, recently, but Don Wehby was clearly having just as much fun.

“This is the nicest part of my job,” the GraceKennedy Group chief executive officer shared with The Gleaner in-between greeting some of the more than 60 persons who turned out for the annual Christmas treat hosted by the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation.

Former GraceKennedy employee Desreen Mighty caught Wehby off guard when she proudly showed him two identification cards from her days with the company, having spent 28 years on staff.

GREAT MEMORIES

As she started right out of school, the older of the two cards showed her with an Afro hairstyle and with her maiden name, Allen.

However, she proudly pointed out to Wehby that it had been signed by the late Carlton Alexander, former chairman and chief executive officer of Grace.

The retired 75-year-old described the company as “outstanding” and was quite willing to share stories about her time spent there.

Drawn from March Pen, Lakes Pen, Lime Tree, Quarrie Hill and De La Vega City, the beneficiaries are selected by members of the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation who work in these communities, and the event is eagerly anticipated, according to Joan Black, treasurer of the De La Vega City Benevolent Society.

“It is always well received,” she disclosed.

All the senior citizens were treated to Grace gift baskets, as well as lively interaction with members of the GraceKennedy Group and the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation, who combined their singing talents to form a company choir, serving up rousing rounds of carols and Yuletide cheer.

It was obvious that, for the retirees, some of whom had been bussed to the location, it was a welcomed intervention.

Wehby really made their day when he promised that as long as he is head of GraceKennedy Limited, they would always have a Christmas treat. For this, he earned a sustained round of applause.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20161221/spreading-christmas-cheer-grace-fetes-seniors-spirit-christmas

Swimming Boss Backs Rainforest Seafoods Ambassador Alia Atkinson for Sportswoman Prize

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Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) President Handel Lamey is throwing full support behind swimming standard bearer Alia Atkinson, whom he is hoping will win her second RJR Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award next month.

The prestigious annual awards ceremony will be held on January 13 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

In 2015, Atkinson became the first swimmer to win the national award since Belinda Phillips in 1974.

According to Lamey, the only blemish on the 28-year-old national record holder’s performances this year was not medalling at the Olympics.

“I think she is a very strong candidate for this year, being that she has established 100m world record, 50m world record and the only thing is that she did not achieve an Olympic medal. But in terms of performance, she has done exceedingly well,” the ASAJ boss told STAR Sports.

Atkinson, who won three medals at the Short Course (SC) Worlds and broke the 50m breaststroke SC would record, will be looking to upstage double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson for the top award.

Locally, Lamey points to the swimmer’s impact as tremendous, considering Atkinson a household name.

“It’s a big deal for us, considering that she has been the only swimmer in a long time that has had received the award. She is very good to have been nominated on so many occasions and having won it,” he said.

From a sporting association level, the president says the decorated swimmer gives a lot of exposure.

“When you look out there in the winning environment, there aren’t that many black swimmers coming from this region who are participating at that level,” stressed Lamey.

Atkinson cites sponsors, such as Rainforest Seafoods, as key to her success

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MONTEGO BAY, St James — FINA Short Course world record holder Alia Atkinson has lauded the assistance from her sponsors Rainforest Seafoods and the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) in helping her reach to the top of word swimming.

At a luncheon held in her honour yesterday at the offices of Rainforest Seafoods in Freeport, Montego Bay, Atkinson, who won three medals at the recent FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Windsor, Canada, presented her sponsors with one of her medals from the World Cup held in Doha, Qatar. She told them she would not have been able to accomplish most of her targets this year without their help.

“Swimming was not that big here in Jamaica and I needed the finance, I needed the help,” she admitted. “Not only did it help me reach to meets that I could not reach before, but it made me feel somewhat like I was on the same level playing field as the rest of the world.”

Atkinson, who suffered a major disappointment after finishing last in her pet event, the 100m breastroke at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August, said the swimmers from other countries got everything they needed to enhance their performances. “The silliest things that you can even think of,” she said, before noting that even the arrangements by the world governing body for swimming favoured those from the more developed countries.

“At the last World Championships, there were six different hotels and all the countries that were expected to medal were in the best hotels, and the others were in the rickety ones around the corner. Everything, from the food and the environment, was a step down.”

It was the support from her sponsors and the ASAJ, she said, that made the difference for her. “If it was not for the support from Rainforest and from Jamaica swimming and Jamaica itself, I would not be able to bring myself up to that level and know that I could do well,” she said.

“It’s not just about you giving someone money…it’s hard to say, but it embodies who I am and it keeps me fighting.”

This season has seen ups and downs, she said, from the Olympics let down to breaking a World Short Course 100m breaststroke record and finish the season strongly. But she said she will fight on.

“There have been ups and down; life is a fight and we can’t give up because life throws you a curveball when you are expecting a straight one,” she said. “I want to build up swimming for people of colour, and for Jamaica; I want to build up children’s characters and teach them that they must try to excel and not just to give up.”

Roger Lyn, marketing manager for Rainforest Seafoods, called Atkinson a “true ambassador, the type of person we want to align our brand with, not just being an athlete, but the example that you set”.

In his welcome he said the alignment between the swimmer and the brand was perfect. “We are seafood and all about the ocean, so we are happy to make the partnership happen this year.”

Ernest Grant, general manager of Rainforest Seafoods, said Atkinson had raised the profile of the sport. “You are now a household name and have inspired many others,” he said, as he reminded Jamaicans that athletes are not just those who run and jump.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Atkinson-cites-sponsors-as-key-to-her-success_83728

PM Lauds Corporate Volunteers

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has hailed the outstanding philanthropic contributions of corporate entities that 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 said.

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’.

Volunteerism

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.

The Young Leader Award was presented to 24-year-old Portmore youth leader Neville Charlton.

Former Lasco Top Cop, Nadine Grant-Brown, who founded the programme Eve for Change, received the Public Sector Volunteer of the Year Award.

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 more than 77,000 children each year.

http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20161214/pm-lauds-corporate-volunteers

PM Holness Hails Work of Corporate Volunteers

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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.

 

Digicel Foundation Helps Tots

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The institution was chosen by Meshae Caple, a member of the Jamaican diaspora living in Chicago, Illinois, who won the foundation’s Build Back Yard Competition. As the winner, Caple selected the Hanover-based institution to receive $190,000 to support their activities.
Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20161117/digicel-foundation-helps-tots