Pay it forward, Catherine goodall urges students

Immaculate Conception High School Alumna Catherine Goodall gave a moving presentation about social responsibility to a group of students at her former high school as part of a series of events in the Environmental Health Foundation's (EHF) 12th Annual Wellness and Lifestyle Promotion on Monday.

In keeping with the theme for this year's promotion, Goodall spoke about social wellness and the importance of engagement, connection and support in its execution.

Goodall who is the marketing manager of Beverages at the LASCO Group of Companies embraced the opportunity to return to Immaculate Conception High School to inspire, motivate and give a call to action to the young women in attendance, on the importance of volunteerism and philanthropy.

Based on her extensive personal experience, she outlined 10 benefits of giving back after distinguishing between charity and philanthropy using the well-received analogy of giving a man a fish versus teaching a man to fish.

"Many people do not have access to the luxuries available to you. You must take advantage of the opportunities presented to you and then pay it forward," Goodall urged the students.

Each year, the EHF ensures that Jamaica's youths are active participants in its promotion by facilitating wellness seminars in high schools across the island. The presenters are notable past students who have made significant contribution in the various aspects of wellness in Jamaica

Fifth staging

This is the fifth staging of this seminar and these speakers return to their schools to motivate and mentor present students. Past speakers include: Lissant Mitchell, CEO of Scotia Investments; Jermaine Deans, former senior manager - Asset Management, Sagicor Investments; Philbert Perry, executive investment advisor, Mayberry Investments and Kadean Steele, manager - Corporate Solutions, JMMB.

This year EHF will focus on 'Social Wellness' because they believe more needs to be done to encourage civil society to ramp up needed interventions for the poor and vulnerable among us.

The Promotion kicked off with the School Wellness Club (SWC) seminar which saw schools competing with each other for trophies and other prizes, while the dynamic speakers empowered the students by revealing practical ways of improving their health and wellness, at home and at school.