Environmental NGO benefits from Mayberry support

MAYBERRY INVESTMENTS Limited recently donated over $2.5 million to help support the operations of the environmental non-profit, the Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET).

"Many may not know, but my favourite hobby is fishing and the Jamaica Environment Trust has been doing so much for the environment that we feel compelled, as good corporate citizens who love the environment, to play our part," said Mayberry Investments chairman Chris Berry in a release to the media.

"The Jamaica Environment Trust encourages respect for the environment we live and breathe in, so this organisation is something that we gladly decided to support," he added.

Among other things, JET operates a long-standing environmental education programme in schools while working to protect the island's natural resources through its advocacy work.

"The Jamaica that we all say we love so easily at a drop of a hat, but in the same breath we throw our garbage in the street, put sewage into the sea and pollute rivers, I don't think those things are compatible. But if we don't protect this small space we call home, no one is going to do it for us," said JET founder and chief executive officer Diana McCaulay.

"As a non-profit organisation, a lot of my job is to raise money to keep the agency going, and on many occasions I've had people ignore my phone calls or try not to make eye contact with me because they feel I'm about to beg some money. So when a company like Mayberry Investments gives us such a large sum of money without having to solicit it, it is a great relief for companies like ours," added McCaulay.

The donation will be reinvested into Mayberry Investments and the interest rate used to fund JET's various projects and the overheads attached to running a non-profit.