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Cornwall College alumni body soliciting help for alma mater

Published:Thursday | October 29, 2020 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
Janet Silvera (back row, left), the only female executive member of the Cornwall College Alumni Association South Florida chapter’s board, and eight out of the nine Cornwall College students who were chosen to receive J$1.2 million in scholarships from t
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Janet Silvera (back row, left), the only female executive member of the Cornwall College Alumni Association South Florida chapter’s board, and eight out of the nine Cornwall College students who were chosen to receive J$1.2 million in scholarships from the CCAA South Florida chapter. The presentation took place at the school’s chapel. Another 10 students were presented with $1.3 million in scholarship funds from Cornwall College’s Class of 1988.

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Cornwall College Alumni Association (CCAA) South Florida chapter is calling on individuals and organisations with the capacity to help to assist the Montego Bay-based school by providing scholarships to students.

Businesswoman/journalist Janet Silvera, the only female executive member of the CCAA South Florida board, made the call on Wednesday during a brief combined presentation of $2.5 million in scholarship funds to 19 students at the school’s chapel. The CCAA South Florida chapter recently started a GoFundMe page to support the school. “Our goal is to establish a scholarship programme to include many more talented students,” said Silvera. “We want to encourage other institutions and individuals to seek opportunities to fund scholarships at Cornwall College.”

“We have started a GoFundMe page where we are trying to raise US$30,000 (J$4.3 million), and already we have reached US$13,000, and every single cent that CCAA South Florida makes will go directly to Cornwall College,” added Silvera.

IMPORTANT TO ASSIST

According to Silvera, who is also the president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it is important to assist the students as they will one day be numbered among the country’s nation-builders.

“At the end of the day, when they leave this institution, these students become a part of some of the best organisations in this country, and that is the result of the foundation that they get at this institution,” said Silvera. “We are particularly proud to provide the scholarship assistance at a time when there is so much hardship, so we implore those who are out there, who can, to give support now more than ever.” During Wednesday’s presentation service, nine of the 19 recipients got $1.2 million in scholarships from the CCAA South Florida chapter, while the remaining 10 got $1.3 million in scholarships from the school’s graduating class of 1988. The students, who are all in different grades, were selected based on their academic performances and extracurricular participation. The scholarships were presented two months after the CCAA South Florida chapter made a five-year commitment to provide scholarships for students of the 124-year-old institution, valued at a total of US$60,000 (J$9 million). The chapter has stuck to this pledge despite the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on face-to-face learning in schools. In expressing gratitude for the scholarships, Cornwall College Vice-Principal Vinette Virgo described the school’s alumni members as ‘preparers of a future’ for the current student body.“I am impressed with the passion of our alumni, with the intense pride they feel as past students of this noble institution, and with the commitment they have in assuring a strong future for their alma mater,” said Virgo. “They can be described as outside-the-box thinkers who believe in preparing our students for a future they never thought of. Their impact is immeasurable and inspirational, and today we salute their altruism.”