JDF, GUARDSMAN OFFER HOPE TO AT-RISK BOYS

UP TO 75 boys between the ages of eight and 15 are set to benefit from a summer intervention programme targeting at-risk youngsters. The programme, which is being spearheaded by the Guardsman Group of Companies, is a joint collaboration which includes the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), the St Andrew Parish Church and the Hope Zoo. It gets under way on July 3 and runs until September 2.

It’s called the JDF/Guardsman Boys of Hope programme and will run for five days per week for three weeks at a time, at the Hope Zoo facilities.

BOYS DRAWN FROM EXISTING PROGRAMME

Director of Operations at Guardsman, Lieutenant Commander George Overton, said the boys are drawn from a programme currently run by the St Andrew Parish Church. They come from mostly volatile communities in parts of lower St Andrew and Kingston’s southern belt.

“A lot of these kids are outside the guidance of their parents and that’s how they get into the St Andrew Parish Church programme in the first place,” Overton told The Gleaner when asked whether the parents of the boys selected had bought into the programme.

“What we are looking at is bringing them into this environment and exposing them to others. We want the Hope Zoo to teach them care, love and a softer side to life. The JDF will help to build their confidence, leadership ability and skills, and their deportment. The army will also focus on helping the boys develop their team-building skills,” said Overton. “With those, we believe we lay a solid foundation, and then what we want to do is bring in some of the persons who can be seen as role models within the society to speak to them,” he added.

We want the Hope Zoo to teach them care, love and a softer side to life. The JDF will help to build their confidence, leadership ability and skills and their deportment.