Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Kiwanians hope to restore termite-ravaged building at boys’ home

Published:Saturday | April 15, 2023 | 12:15 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
From left: Darcy Tulloch-Williams, executive director of the Mustard Seed Communities; Governor Anthony Haile, Eastern Canada and the Caribbean District of Kiwanis International; Derrick Brown, president of Kiwanis Club of North St Andrew; and Lt Gov Hugh
From left: Darcy Tulloch-Williams, executive director of the Mustard Seed Communities; Governor Anthony Haile, Eastern Canada and the Caribbean District of Kiwanis International; Derrick Brown, president of Kiwanis Club of North St Andrew; and Lt Gov Hugh Reid, Kiwanis Division 23 Central, during a visit to the Matthew 25:40 home in Kingston on Tuesday.

The Kiwanis Club of North St Andrew (KCNSA) is currently undergoing fundraising efforts to offer well-needed support to the Matthew 25:40 Boys’ Home operated by the Mustard Seed Communities.

Through the recently launched Sensational Solar Raffle project, the service club will renovate a section of the home to improve the lives and accommodation of the 19 young men living at the house who range in age from 16 to 26 years.

The governor of Kiwanis International’s Eastern Canada and Caribbean District, Anthony Haile, who is visiting Jamaica until April 18, together with Lt Gov Hugh Reid of the Kiwanis Eastern Canada and Caribbean District, Division 23 Central and members of the KCNSA, toured the deteriorating upstairs section of a termite-infested building at the home on Tuesday.

Derrick Brown, president of the KCNSA, told The Gleaner that the club aims to rebuild the top section of the building to accommodate seven bedrooms, at least three bathrooms and a recreational area.

“What we’re trying to do is to build for them a transitional living facility, which will see a more comfortable living space for them,” he said.

He continued that the building blueprints are currently being finalised and that the construction was pending until funds came in.

The Matthew 25:40 Boys’ home is an extension of the Dare to Care HIV programme of the Mustard Seed Communities, catering to boys and young men living with HIV/AIDS, some of whom were born with the virus.

According to Brown, the KCNSA has always been interested in having a positive influence on the community, through searching for areas that are in desperate need of assistance and providing whatever support it can.

“When we heard about these young men who are here, living, basically marginalised by the rest of society, the decision was to help them on three aspects,” he said.

He added that the initial phase of their support was in the form of mentorship, which entailed inviting motivational speakers to speak to them. The second phase is the incorporation of skills-training workshops, which have been carried out on a fortnightly basis for the past year and six months and will continue for the next three years.

“We’re not stopping here ... We’re gonna be with them for quite a while,” Brown said, noting the club’s commitment to continue to partner with the Mustard Seed Communities.

Brown extended an invitation to the public to assist the fundraising efforts by purchasing raffle tickets, which are being sold by Kiwanis clubs across Jamaica and are accessible in the majority of pharmacies and gas stations islandwide.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com