Jamaica Broilers Group gives thanks for 60 years
HUNDREDS OF employees, as well as contractors, partners and other associates of the Jamaica Broilers Group gathered on the lawns of the company’s head office in McCooks Pen, St Catherine, for its annual thanksgiving event on Tuesday, May 1, to mark the start of a new fiscal year. This year, the event bore special significance to the group as it celebrates 60 years in operation.
The company, rooted in Jamaica, is now a significant operation with 2,800 members of staff across Jamaica, Haiti and five states in the USA.
In addressing his team who were in attendance or participating online via live stream, Christopher Levy, president and CEO, declared that the growth of the organisation over the past 60 years can be attributed primarily to God’s blessing and the hard work of team members.
“God has guided us and opened doors of opportunities for us over the six decades and we must recognise the awesomeness of this,” he declared.
Levy noted that the Jamaica Broilers Group was at an interesting time in its 60-year history, as the organisation is now operating in three different countries, with distinctly different cultures.
“This requires a new way of thinking on how to embody our core values into our operations in this extended space. But it all begins with the fact that what we do is determined by what is right every time,” he noted.
CORPORATE MINISTRY
Company Chairman Robert Levy commended the team for their dedicated service to Jamaica. He reminded them that ‘giving back’ is part of who Jamaica Broilers is; not just through cash or kind, but through corporate ministry.
Master of ceremonies John Carberry, general operations manager, Best Dressed Chicken Processing Facilities, was a jovial host and led the gathering through an inspiring service filled with worship, prayer and the Word of God. Pastor Dwight Fletcher of Transformed Life Church also brought an encouraging message. He spoke to the Hebrew word for ‘thanksgiving’ in the context of King David’s Psalm as literally meaning ‘to make public acknowledgement’. “We’re not being quiet about [giving thanks], we’re being loud about it. And when we are exalting the Lord, we are actually saying that He deserves it all,” he noted.
Pastor Fletcher went on to remind the Jamaica Broilers Group team members that “sometimes when we fall short of the target, we get disappointed and walk away downcast”. He charged them to remember that even then, there is always something to give God thanks for and that as a team, they are stronger and better together.
The programme closed with an exhilarating performance by popular gospel singer Kevin Downswell, who had the crowd on their feet ‘running, skipping and praising the Lord’ to favourites from his album, such as You Make Me Stronger.