Food For The Poor partners with Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College
THE JN Money Services’ (JNMS) Breast Cancer Awareness campaign was successful in raising almost US$3,000 across all of its locations in the Jamaican diaspora Horace Hines, general manager, has revealed.
Between October 19 and 25, JN Money customers were invited to donate to the Jamaica Cancer Society’s (JCS) Reach To Recovery programme whenever they visited a JN Money branch in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands. The campaign was in support of the Power of Pink Breast Cancer Awareness campaign that was mounted by the JN Bank during October.
“When we made the announcement in October that we would be launching this campaign, it was at very short notice. Therefore, we are happy that our JN Money customers in the diaspora readily joined the campaign to raise funds to fight this disease, which has claimed so many lives,” Hines said.
“We were also touched by the various stories that persons related to us ... . The funds raised will assist in providing support for those who are recovering, as well,” he added.
The successful initiative was launched on World Mammography Day, which highlighted the significance of early detection through testing.
“To support the occasion, JN Money staff across all our major markets wore pink, as a show of solidarity for breast cancer patients, survivors, and those who are no longer with us due to the disease,” Hines added.
JN Money will also make a company donation of US$1,000 to the total donations made by its customers, and a special presentation of these funds will be made, in collaboration with JN
Bank, to the JCS. JAMAICAN CHILDREN with learning disabilities can often slip through the cracks and fall behind as they pursue their education.
For this reason, and underlining its commitment to education in Jamaica, Food For The Poor (FFP) Jamaica has collaborated with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, the National Education Trust and the Programme for the Advancement of Childhood Education Canada on the construction of the Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College Diagnostic & Early Intervention Centre.
Minister of Education, Youth and Information Senator Ruel Reid officially opened the centre on the college campus in Granville.
“The opening is yet another reminder that we are always better and always stronger when we work together,” said David Mair, executive director of FFP Jamaica.
“In this regard, we salute the efforts of the Ministry of Education in funding the construction of this diagnostic and early-intervention centre, which will provide comprehensive screening and diagnostics to ensure the highest quality education of our students,” he added.
Mair provided examples of FFP Jamaica’s dedicated support for the education of children, especially the most vulnerable, over the years.
He indicated that the Jamaica 50 campaign, launched in 2012, has constructed and refurbished over 100 basic schools across the island. The charitable organisation has also built modern sanitary conveniences in 78 schools islandwide, where pit latrines are now a thing of the past.
ASSISTANCE PROVIDED
FFP continues to support several school-feeding programmes; provides back-toschool assistance to needy students; and implements agricultural projects in schools, providing the tools and knowledge for future food safety.
All of this was made possible with the generous support of donors in the United States, Canada and Jamaica.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, acting principal at Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College, Dr Lorna Gow-Morrison, said the key objectives of the centre are to offer fair access to treatment for all children and families, regardless of socio-economic status, while offering families the opportunity to make fully informed decisions on the children’s future educational path.
Minister Reid said students with special needs not only require special attention, but also a longer time, if necessary, in the education system.
“We need to track every child and make sure they are developing appropriately and where there is need for early intervention, that it takes place,” Reid said.