New Forest High School gets donation in memory of Eva May Wright

New Forest High School, nestled in Duff House, Manchester, is today the recipient of $1 million, courtesy of the Wright family. The funds were donated in memory of the late Eva May Wright, who was laid to rest on Sunday, September 29.

According to Principal Arnaldo Allen, the funds will be used to complete the construction of a multipurpose court for netball, basketball, volleyball, and even lawn tennis.

“Our vision is to see New Forest become a state-of-the-art educational institution in south Manchester. This donation will help us to continue to build out our multipurpose court – something that has never happened before and years from now the entire community will continue to benefit from it,” Allen said.

More than 20 members of the Wright family were present for Monday morning devotion and the presentation of funds which followed.

Three new houses were also named in honour of outstanding residents of the community. They are: Brooks House, Parkins House and Wright House – the latter in honour of Eva May Wright.

Wright’s granddaughter, Veneise Wright, read her matriarch’s history which chronicled her life in the community, including the fact that she believed in providing opportunities to the local community, such as donating land to Port Kaiser for a section of the railway to be built.

In making the presentation to the school, chairman of the school board and granddaughter of Mrs Wright, Trisha Williams-Singh, said: “The money will go towards finishing the multipurpose court because we want to introduce basketball here. The community will have access to the court, so it is all about development of the New Forest-Duff House communities as well. It will be a continuation of the work my grandmother began because she believed in community development,” she told The Gleaner.

Also in attendance at the devotion was Wright’s grand-nephew, Floyd Green, minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, from the neighbouring Junction community. He encouraged the students to embrace education as it was the only way to move Jamaica and themselves forward.

Green said that in addition to working hard, students should also dream big, believe in themselves and write a five-year plan for what they want to achieve.

“I want all of you to dream big; we are here today because of Eva May Wright from humble beginnings, but she invested in the education of her children and grandchildren. She sent her brothers and sisters to school and because of that she created a legacy,” he said.