Hollywood actor donates school supplies to Granville All-age
Hollywood actor and stuntman Dexter Bell, who has Jamaican roots, has committed to partnering with the Granville Primary and Infant School in Trelawny to construct a wall at a section of the institution as part of efforts to help mitigate flooding.
Ivanhoe Gordon, principal of the school, explained that the aim of the project is to construct a wall, which is currently underway, to minimise the possibility of flood waters from a nearby gutter from running onto the school compound after heavy rainfall.
“When we go back we will just help to raise some funds and just get this thing done. I told the principal, ‘tell me what’s the most pressing, what needs to be done, what can we help with’. So we go back, we organise and get people together and then raise contributions and try and get this thing done. That’s the goal,” Bell told the Jamaica Observer West during his visit to the school on Monday.
Born in Canada to Jamaican parents, Bell now resides in Atlanta. His mother, Ira Gordon, hails from Granville, and attended the school in the community.
The actor, who is on vacation in Jamaica with his wife Kira Bell and their two children, Dominic and Kristen, along with their neighbours Shawn and Yuki Braxton, on Monday gifted the students with a wide variety of stationary and other school supplies.
“Our mother and father raised us right, so we got to carry this tradition on,” he told the Observer West.
An appreciative Gordon was impressed with Bell’s philanthropy.
“The fact that he was coming to Jamaica to have his vacation but he remembered the children in the school and he asked what can he bring, having not attended the school, not even for a day, has impressed me. I just told him to bring whatever he has and that is what you see down there. I didn’t tell him what to bring. He selected the items based on his own children,” the principal said.
Bell noted that it was important for him to bring his children to the community to familiarise them with their roots.
“I wanted to let my kids know where they come from. I would like them to see what grandma and our other cousins, uncles, came up from so they get a better appreciation when they go back home,” he said.
He thanked members of his Peachtree City, Everton, community in the US, who assisted with the items he brought for the students.
Bell has featured in movies such as Hot Wings, Torn, the Mangler, Harold and the Purple Crayon.
His brother Doron Bell is a Canadian actor, musician, and singer. He is known for his music, acting and voice work. He voiced the character Waldo in the Netflix animated series Dinotrux as well as many other animation projects. He once released an indie reggae music single named Lightning that featured Jamaican singer and Grammy winner Beenie Man.