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IGT opens new centre for Mustard Seed - Jerusalem

Published:Friday | September 11, 2015 | 10:42 AM
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With scissors in hand, Debbie Green (second left), general manager of IGT Jamaica, officially opens the 11th After-School Advantage Centre in Jamaica. Sharing the moment are (from left) Father Garvin Augustine, executive director of Mustard Seed Communities International; a student of Mustard Seed’s Little Angel’s Learning Centre; and Darcy Tulloch-Williams, executive director of Mustard Seed Communities – Jamaica. The ceremony was held on Wednesday, September 9, at Mustard Seed Jerusalem community in Spanish Town.
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Gracy Ann Briscoe (left), special educator at Mustard Seed’s Jerusalem community, and Suzette Palmer, human resource coordinator at IGT Jamaica, help students of Jerusalem’s Little Angel’s Learning Centre to familiarise themselves with newly donated computers.
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A section of the newly equipped computer lab recently opened by IGT at Mustard Seed’s Jerusalem community in Spanish Town.
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Lottery and gaming machine company, IGT (formerly GTECH), through its After-School Advantage programme, recently opened a new computer centre at Mustard Seed Communities - Jerusalem.

The company equipped the centre with nine new desktop computers and a printer and also upgraded the existing ones. The new computers will provide a technology-based education for young people at the centre. The After-School Advantage programme is IGT's signature global, corporate philanthropic initiative that provides non-profit and non-government organisations with fully equipped computer centres.

For each centre, IGT donates up to US$15,000 in state-of-the-art computers, online technology, software, and employee volunteer hours. The company successfully works with more than 260 After-School Advantage centres globally.

future plans

"This is the first time IGT has partnered with one of Mustard Seed's locations. It is certainly a pleasure for us to assist in this way and to work with an organisation that caters to young people in our community who have special needs," said Debbie Green, general manager for IGT Jamaica. "IGT is committed to helping our young people prepare to participate in an ever-changing technological world. We plan to partner with Mustard Seed again and establish more centres at their other locations."

Jerusalem provides residential care to more than 162 children and adults with mental and physical challenges. While caring for the basic human needs of its residents, the Jerusalem location also provides educational opportunities and skills training to encourage its residents to become more independent.

"More than 100 children, including some from the surrounding communities, will benefit from the use of technology at IGT's After-School Advantage centre," said Suzette Dixon, administrator at Jerusalem.