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Jamaica Broilers Helps St Catherine Students

Published:Thursday | August 27, 2015 | 9:00 AM
Contributed
Dr Claudette Cooke (left), vice-president, human resourse development and public relations at the Jamaica Broilers Group, gives a gift to Jamar Dunkley, student at the Ruby Madden Basic School, Spring Village.

The Jamaica Broilers Group made presentations to a large gathering of students at the group's 2015 back-to-school awards ceremony, held Tuesday in the staff training building at its head office in McCook's Pen, St Catherine.

A symbolic cheque for $400,000 was presented by Christopher Levy, group president and CEO, to Diana Bryan-Christie, principal of Spring Garden All-Age School, for disbursement by the Spring Village Development Foundation to 34 pre-selected students in the Spring Village community where the Best Dressed Chicken processing plant is located.

The bursaries are awarded to select students who pass their Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and first entrants to tertiary institutions.

Recipients who maintain at least a B average throughout the course of their studies will continue to receive support from the group on each successful year of completion.

In addition, the company has made arrangements for 300 students from Spring Village, McCook's Pen and Bodles/Freetown to receive backpacks loaded with an assortment of school supplies.

The programme spans 20 years and has benefitted thousands of students.

Levy, in his greetings, expressed the importance of giving back to the communities within which the group operates and encouraged the youngsters to do the same as they grow older.

Guest speaker Barrington Richardson, senior education officer, Region Six in the Ministry of Education, endorsed Levy's sentiments and gave a motivational speech that had the youngsters fully engaged, echoing positive statements towards achieving success.

His remarks, under the theme 'I am Responsible: I Can!', said, in part: "It is important to note that failures of the past should not be references for the future. Some of you might not be going to your first choice of high school because you needed to have worked a little harder, but today, Jamaica Broilers Group is affirming that it believes in you and is giving you the opportunity to excel, so there is no room for excuses."