Add Hope plans ahead for phase two of school-feeding programme

Restaurants of Jamaica Limited (ROJ), owners and operators of KFC in Jamaica, alongside the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MoEYI), have begun plans to commence phase two of their Add Hope initiative.

This comes on the heels of ROJ's $4.5-million donation through the programme, which will see Nutrition Products Limited (NPL) distributing just over 82,000 meals to basic- and primary-level students.

"A major component of our mission is to secure partners who are aligned with our vision to embark on a long-term strategy to support and develop our youth," said Floyd Green, minister of state in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. "This is a team effort, and Restaurants of Jamaica has shown tremendous potential to truly help subsidise our efforts."

Green emphasised the need to provide meals for children most in need in order to ensure that these students are all successful in school. He also shared his anticipation of phase two of the Add Hope initiative, which will engage Jamaica at large to make donations to the ministry's school-feeding programme when purchasing select meals at all KFC Jamaica locations.

...We want to play our part - NPL

Nutrition Products Limited (NPL) is responsible for the creation, procurement and distribution of all meals under the education ministry's School Feeding Unit. Chairman of the board of NPL, Ewart Gilzean, announced the company's intention to dedicate the month of June to Add Hope.

Expressing his gratitude on behalf of the board of directors of NPL, Gilzean commended ROJ for their commitment to feeding students most in need through their Add Hope programme. He also took the opportunity to share NPL's plans to ensure that phase two of Add Hope is successful.

"We want to play our part in ensuring that all beneficiaries and the communities around them are all aware that KFC is playing their part to give back in a big way," said Gilzean.

"This will ensure that ROJ's point-of-sale initiative come September will be highly supported so that we can continue to provide more and more meals to students in Jamaica."

'WE WELCOME PARTNERSHIP AND SUPPORT'

Brand Manager for Restaurants of Jamaica (ROJ) Andrei Roper emphasised ROJ's willingness to work with other members of corporate Jamaica who want to play their role to 'Add Hope' across Jamaica.

"This relationship with the Ministry of Education is much bigger than any one corporate entity," said Roper.

"Providing the ideal number of meals to students in need will require continuous and sustained efforts, so we welcome partnership and support of anyone who wants to join us in this fight against hunger in schools across Jamaica."

ROJ's Add Hope efforts are aimed at providing meals to basic- and primary-level students where meals are most needed to ensure that students can focus on their early development. This will allow the ministry to displace funds allocated towards feeding basic- and primary-level students to provide more meals at the secondary level.

ROJ, through their brand, KFC Jamaica, is expected to launch phase two of their Add Hope initiative in September. This second phase will see the brand allowing customers to make in-store donations to Add Hope when purchasing select menu items.