Tag: JamaicaObserver

Food For The Poor assists family, elderly with houses

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A Portland family and an elderly man are the latest beneficiaries of houses from philanthropic organisation Food For The Poor (FFP) after their plight was highlighted by the Jamaica Observer North East in 2015.

The family of four, which includes a wheelchair-bound man, was desperately in need of a house to get out of the crammed space they shared in the back room of a relative’s house in Waybridge, Portland, for years.

Observer North & East reported in 2015 that Jacqueline Thompson, her two daughters and her physically challenged son all shared a single bed in a room which an aunt allowed them to stay in, after they had been living in the garage for some time.

At the time, Thompson stressed that she needed help to get back on her feet.

“I am feeling happy about getting my house. I thank God as I can’t leave him out,” she said.

Thompson also thanked justice of the peace and pastor of the Church of God in Christ at Long Road, Roy Titus, who tried desperately to get assistance for the family. He described their situation as “dire,” then.

She also thanked the Ministry of Housing for the land space, Food For The Poor for the house, the Observer for highlighting her need, and the parish council and the National Insurance Scheme for their assistance.

“I am a happy person now. It was a long and horrible wait; I cried sometimes. The children are very happy, especially my son Okeno,” Thompson shared.

The house, which is located at Darlingford Housing Scheme in Manchioneal in the parish, was handed over last October. Thompson said FFP has also pledged to donate furniture.

A visually impaired elderly man was also the beneficiary of a house from FFP.

Urnal Taylor lived in a dirt-floor, one-bedroom house in Boston in the parish for years, before FFP read of his plight in the

Observer and presented him with the keys for a new house.

“This house is beautiful as much as mi can’t see it. I am comfortable and mi have space. Thanks to all the people who helped me, and the gentleman here, Pastor Titus. The blessings on his shoulders can’t come off. Welcome; welcome,” he said with a broad grin on his face.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/regional/Food-For-The-Poor-assists-family–elderly-with-housesObserver-North-and-East-article-spurs-action——-_87286

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 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.

 

GOOD COMES FROM FLANKER

Inner-city youth balances work & study, earns bursary

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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

 

USE ROADS WITH CARE

THE National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is appealing to motorists, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and pillion riders to be extremely careful, responsible and courteous on our roads for the last quarter of 2016 and even beyond.

According to Paula Fletcher, NRSC executive director, as at Wednesday, September 14, there were 273 people who died as a result of 225 fatal road crashes since the start of 2016.

“Two hundred and seventy-three deaths due to road crashes in Jamaica is unacceptable. We need to be more responsible on our roads for the last quarter of 2016 and onwards. Together, as a nation, we have the power to play our part to record less than 300 road fatalities for 2016. Taking personal responsibility for our safety is the first step in this direction. We can do this by obeying all rules of the road, including: driving within the speed limit, not overtaking recklessly, using pedestrian crossings, or if there is none, cross only when and where it is safe to do so. We should also desist from using cell phones while walking or driving. Using safety devices is critical to safe travel. Too many persons are being flung from vehicles and suffer severe injury as they hit the pavement and/or are run over in a secondary crash. In addition, motorcyclists and their pillion must wear their helmet,” said Fletcher.

As we open the new school year, NRSC is urging road users to observe all the rules of the road and to look out for our children.

“The council believes parents and guardians should teach their children a safe route to and from school, schools should have talks on this subject as part of their orientation exercise and road safety should be a key item on the agenda at PTA meetings. Additionally, the council is imploring of schools to make arrangements with the Police Traffic Headquarters to schedule a date for road safety presentations at their schools,” said Fletcher.

NRSC is also appealing to parents and guardians to not send young children unaccompanied on the road, as children do not always have the ability to safely navigate the complex and ever- changing traffic environment.

“It costs Jamaica approximately $2 billion in hospital expenses per annum for road crashes. This is not the full cost of crashes, as it doesn’t include costs such as funeral and rehabilitation expenses, insurance and funds to replace damaged road furniture. Most of all pain, grief and suffering also has its associated costs,” she said.

NRSC wants us do all we can to reduce the bloodletting on our roads as we cannot continue to lose our loved ones, friends, neighbours, community members and co-workers. We are losing our potential leaders, workers, and importantly contributors to the development of safe and secure families.

Let us all do our part to make road safety a way of life.

Source: Jamaica Observer | ‘Use roads with care’