Tag: Philantrophy

My Desire Is To Serve!

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To bring about the kinds of changes that will help people live healthier and more productive lives, volunteer organisations listen and learn to identify pressing problems that get too little attention.

This is why community service is important. Volunteerism teaches compassion and understanding, and has emerged through a process of identifying what is needed to assist people and where the greatest impact can be achieved.

Dane Richardson, now at the helm of Digicel Foundation, an organisation that has invested $3 billion in communities islandwide, is no stranger to volunteerism. Although earlier in his life he began a trajectory in pursuit of medicine, Richardson always felt there was something missing but could not immediately identify what it was.

It was while teaching at the Portmore Community College that he began connecting the dots towards his true calling, while pushing for solutions to assist students who needed remedial work.

“There were students at that level, but they could not read. Then I realised that the school itself had broader issues, where students were matriculating but not transitioning. This is where I was thrust into programme management and administration and I started designing programmes and meeting with different key stakeholders while trying to solve these issues,” Richardson said.

Having carved out a definitive career goal, Richardson joined the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life as programme development and grants manager. The Jamaica AIDS Support for Life is one of the leading health-care agencies in Latin America and the Caribbean, addressing the socio-economic challenges facing, and advocating for, Jamaicans living with and affected by HIV and AIDS, STIs, and intimate-partner violence.

According to Richardson, his experience at Jamaica AIDS Support for Life assisted him in understanding and acknowledging the capacity each person has to develop their true potential.

“I realised there is a lot more that can be done here in Jamaica. I was thrust more deeply into dealing with social issues and working with persons dealing with other issues who are less fortunate than us,” Richardson said.

“There are persons who are facing real and significant challenges in our country, and my eyes were opened to the fact that many Jamaicans are looking for someone who can be their voice and looking out for their best interest. I was able to take stock of my own life and do things to help others, not just myself,” Richardson said.

GIVING BACK

With the Digicel Foundation built on the premise of giving back, Richardson joined the organisation in 2013 as programme manager with primary responsibility for education. In 2015, he was promoted to head of programmes and a year later, he was again promoted to director of operations.

As programme manager for education, Richardson intensified the efforts of the organisation to empower teachers to improve the literacy and numeracy levels among students in primary schools, through the use of information communications technology (ICT).

“Digicel Foundation works in three areas – education, special needs, and community development. We cannot solve all the problems, however, we can galvanise support from other partners and, most important, the Government to ensure sustainability. At the end of the day, Jamaicans are the ones that will benefit,” Richardson said.

“We have had many achievements across the island over our 12-year history. At this juncture, we intend to look back at what has worked, what has not worked and build going forward; and really look at what is relevant to make the foundation stronger,” he added.

The Digicel Jamaica Foundation is a non-profit organisation that utilises funds on a charitable basis and remains a vested partner in the social development of communities by increasing access for the special-needs community to improve their quality of lives, by expanding access to education through technology, by supporting and empowering survivors of domestic violence, and by fostering a spirit of self-reliance through sustainable enterprise within communities.

“My aspiration has always been to head an organisation and to put in the machinery to effect change. Every aspect of what will transpire is team work, and we will work together as a team to effect necessary changes in the lives of Jamaicans,” Richardson said.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170120/my-desire-serve

Digicel, JCPD Grant Christmas Wish

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An enterprising young Jamaica living with cerebral palsy will remember this Christmas as the time he entered the workforce as an entrepreneur, after receiving a new computer, printer and external hard drive for his start-up technology firm, Ventura Tech.

While more than 3,000 children will ‘Get Gifted’ with toys, courtesy of Digicel during Christmas treats to be held islandwide.

The gift to Roshane Foster, who has refused to let the cerebral palsy crush his dreams, was made possible through collaboration between Digicel Foundation and the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD).

A recent surprise visit to Roshane’s house in Manchester brought tears of joy from his mother Gennie Facey, who was happy to see her son’s entrepreneurial dream come to life.

“Roshane has always wanted to start his own business and I have always known that he had it in him to be successful, but as a single parent it has been difficult to give him all he would need to succeed. I am so very appreciative. I could not ask for more,” said Facey.

A GOOD START

She noted that this was a good start for Ventura Tech, a name hand-picked by her son for his business.

Roshane already supports his community through graphic design and other digital services. However, with new gadgets, he will now have better equipment to extend his business portfolio.

As Roshane spoke it became clear that he had great passion for his business. “Ventura Tech is very unique because I try to make sure each design is different and I listen to my customers, so that I can give them what they ask for. I put my heart and soul in each design so that makes a big difference.”

He was eager to share his vision for the future, saying, “I see myself in the next five years with at least two computer shops and giving back to the persons who helped me to make my dream come true.”

“We want to celebrate the resilient spirit of champions like Roshane, who want to contribute meaningfully, despite the hurdles along their way,” said Dane Richardson, director of operations at the Digicel Foundation.

Through several initiatives, the foundation supports organisations to help address challenges in the disability sector.

FAR-REACHING EFFORTS

“Working with key agencies like the JCPD helps to ensure that our efforts are far-reaching and impactful,” said Richardson.

From his certification in information technology and business administration to his own volunteerism in becoming the first active Rotaract Club member living with cerebral palsy, Roshane has made great strides.

In speaking about his next steps, he was steadfast in sharing how he wants to channel his own success to actively supporting members of the special-needs community.

“What I want is for persons to stop looking down on people with disabilities. We have a lot to offer, just like anyone else,” said Roshane.

In the meantime, Digicel will continue giving toys to children tomorrow, with the Usain Bolt Treat in Sherwood Content Trelawny

Digicel Jamaica CEO David Butler said toy-giving has become a happy tradition of the company.

“Nothing warms our hearts more at this time of the year than seeing the joy a toy brings to children’s faces. We are always very happy to support our ambassadors and community organisations that work hard to ensure we extend smiles right across Jamaica during the Yuletide,” said Butler.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20161225/digicel-jcpd-grant-christmas-wish

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.