No Benz sale, but partnership continues

Despite not being able to sell the Mercedes-Benz

E-Class on offer at the silent auction held at Strawberry Hill, Irish Town, rural St Andrew, last Sunday, Silver Star Motors managed to raise awareness of the Alpha Institute's needs.

The proceeds of the auction would have benefited the Alpha Institute.

"We were able to give back to charity on that day. Some of our current clientele were also looking at giving back to the charity so, in the end, Alpha won overall. Unfortunately, we weren't able to sell the car at that event. But it did what it was supposed to do, which was to bring more awareness of what Alpha is trying to do and bring more support to their programme," said general manager at Silver Star Motors, Sloane Jackson.

The event was held on the first Sunday of the month, which will be a regular date for the Alpha All Stars, professional musicians who are past students of the renowned South Camp Road institution. Proceeds from the silent auction would have gone towards the development of Alpha's vocational programmes, which includes landscaping, music, screen-printing and woodwork.

Jackson pointed out that Silver Star Motors will be continuing their work with the Alpha Institute.

More work in the future

"Through this particular venture that we have done, one of the things we have decided to do is to partner with them for the future. For the rest of the year, we will be doing stuff with them to help give back, to help them get to their total. Next year is going to be a really big step," Jackson said.

Head of Special Projects at Alpha Institute, Joshua Chamberlain, said, "It was a wonderful event. The feedback everybody gave was that it was a really special event and a nice afternoon in the name of music doing positive things for the community."

Chamberlain also said a subsequent meeting with Silver Star Motors affirmed the car dealership's commitment to working with the Alpha Institute.

"It is just a question of how much. Yesterday [Wednesday], we met with them for a long time and spoke about all types of things. We talked about the music, supporting general education, doing internships, doing educational driving tips, all types of things. We came away with all types of opportunities," Chamberlain said.