Rotary Club restores sewing facility for physically disabled
THE JAMAICA Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities (JAPPD), located at the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre in Mona, St Andrew, is closer to realising its dream of operating a fully efficient training centre.
The Association recently received US$1,000 in donations, raised through the ISupportJamaica platform by the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights, to complete the rehabilitation of a defunct sewing room at the centre.
Don Taylor, general secretary of the JAPPD, said that the funds will assist with installing a bathroom facility at the workshop.
He noted that the aim is to expand the training into leather, bead and coconut shell crafts. “The whole idea is to get our members to be independent and develop a greater sense of self-worth.”
Dr Suzanne McDonald-Fowles, president of the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights, said the association was happy to have undertaken the project, in collaboration with ISupportJamaica.
The club’s association with the JAPPD began in 2017 after it assisted the association with items for its office; and then in 2018, it embarked on a project to rehabilitate the defunct sewing facility, donating an industrial sewing machine to assist with regenerating the workshop. The club then took on the challenge to raise funds via ISupportJamaica for the refurbishment of the facility.
In addition to facilitating the raising of funds via its platform, ISupportJamaica assisted with raising awareness of the project, which resulted in the club receiving additional donations of more than US$6,000 from members of the Jamaican diaspora in Washington, DC, facilitated by the Jamaican Embassy in the US capital. The club used the money to conduct a full refurbishment of the sewing facility.
“We were able to remove the rotting board windows and replace them with glass window panes, add work benches, mend the floor, grill the facility and improve the electrical wiring. We even replaced two doors and constructed a wheelchair ramp for easier entry and exit to the facility,” Dr McDonald-Fowles explained.
PURPOSE
“It is our purpose to give back to the community and help to improve communities in whatever way we can, through partnerships and guiding projects that will be impactful in communities,” she shared.
The president commended the collaboration with ISupportJamaica for bringing back hope to members of the physically disabled community.
“ISupportJamaica has come to our assistance, and The Jamaica National Group, in particular, has assisted with several projects over the years, which we have undertaken; as well as given us the assistance that we needed. With these partnerships we can do a lot in our communities to support and improve the lives of the less fortunate,” she added.
Phillip Lindsay, operations officer at ISupportJamaica, said the JN Foundation, which powers the platform, welcomed the partnership with the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights to raise the funds.
“This project was very dear to us, and although the target was small, it was impactful. We are pleased that we were able to assist the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights with this initiative,” Lindsay pointed out.
The Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights, chartered in 2008, is a new-generation Rotary club, whose members are comprised mainly of young professionals between the ages of 30 and 45 years old. Over the years, the club has centred its focus on affecting the lives of children and adolescents.
ISupportJamaica is a crowdfunding platform, which seeks to provide a simple, creative and secure avenue for Jamaicans residing locally and overseas, as well as friends of Jamaica, to provide financial support to microenterprises and not-for-profit projects and programmes.