Changing for the better

AS THE CEO of the GraceKennedy Group, while I am serious about the group’s performance and profitability, I am equally passionate about the company’s work in the communities in which we operate, which ultimately plays a critical role in nation-building.

When the Grace & Staff Community Development Foundation started in 1979, it was a response to rising unemployment and increased violence within the downtown communities in and around which we operated. Staff members unanimously and voluntarily decided that they would contribute a portion of their monthly salary to community-development activities and initiatives, and the company committed to matching staff donations two to one. That was a demonstration of our ‘We Care’ mantra, and that mantra holds true even to today.

Since Grace & Staff started on that premise, we haven’t looked back, and what we have, in fact, seen is that our communities are moving forward. More young people have gained an education and employment, parents are heavily involved in community activities, and entire family units have had access to counselling through the Foundation. Grace & Staff has now been able to open six homework centres across the island that replicate the model created and tested in our downtown Kingston communities. The result is that thousands of lives have been changed for the better.

The spirit of volunteerism and philanthropy that inspired the birth of Grace & Staff has now become a mainstay in the communities we operate in. The partnership we have created with community members over the years is built on trust, which has helped us achieve Grace & Staff’s objective of ‘building a bridge of human care and understanding’.

Forty years later, we are very proud to be assisting over 600 children with financial assistance for their educational pursuits and social assistance to deal with any challenges they may be facing. I have made a personal pledge to increase that number to 1,000 by the time GraceKennedy celebrates 100 years in 2022, and the Grace & Staff team is working non-stop to make that happen.

I congratulate and celebrate the dedicated board and team members over the 40 years of Grace & Staff’s existence. Their selfless work has resulted in brighter futures, maximised potential, better community relations, and a better Jamaica. The work of Grace and Staff has been good for Jamaica, and if it’s good for Jamaica, it’s good for GraceKennedy.

Thanks to all the partners who have worked with us along the way. We appreciate you and what you have done to complement and enhance our work. Finally, my very special and sincere gratitude goes to our community members, who have become members of our extended family. GraceKennedy commits to an ongoing partnership and relationship. We continue to subscribe to the notion that all people need to succeed is an opportunity. As former director Ray Chang, often said, what people need is a ‘hand up’, not a handout.

Grace & Staff will continue to lend that helping hand.