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JWN Foundation brings Christmas cheer to 1,000 families

Published:Wednesday | December 16, 2020 | 12:22 AM
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JWNF volunteers Cherly Johnson and Rohan Rohinson present food packages to the principal of York Town Primary School, Francine Swaby.
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JWNF volunteers Cherly Johnson and Rohan Rohinson present food packages to the principal of York Town Primary School, Francine Swaby.
Principal of Seaward Gardens Primary School Arlene Thomas accepts $100,000 in vouchers from CEO of JWN Foundation Tanikie McClarthy Allen.
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Principal of Seaward Gardens Primary School Arlene Thomas accepts $100,000 in vouchers from CEO of JWN Foundation Tanikie McClarthy Allen.
Monica Smiley, principal of Race Course Primary School, accepts food packages from JWNF volunteer Rohan Robinson.
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Monica Smiley, principal of Race Course Primary School, accepts food packages from JWNF volunteer Rohan Robinson.
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J. Wray & Nephew (JWN) Foundation will bring Christmas cheer to over 1,000 families in Kingston and Clarendon by providing food packages and supermarket vouchers. This as the foundation recognises the challenges faced by families with children at home doing online learning. Good nutrition is an important part of learning and development, and JWN Foundation wants to ensure that families can provide balanced meals.

Food packages will be distributed using the JWN Foundation’s network of support schools – York Town, Race Course and Gimme Me Bit primary schools in Clarendon. In Kingston, the foundation will provide $400,000 in MegaMart vouchers to the Balmagie, St Patrick’s, Seaward and Seaview Gardens primary schools.

Principal of York Town Primary Francine Swaby, in response to the donation, said, “Christmas is a time of year when the York Town Primary School family extends their love and benevolence to the elderly and shut-ins in our community. This year, for us to be recipients of care packages for our students is testament that when you give, you will indeed receive. We are very grateful and happy that in times like these we have an organisation like the JWN Foundation that has been consistent partners with us. This gesture certainly will put a smile on the faces of our students.”

Tanikie McClarthy Allen, CEO of the JWN Foundation, said that “2020 has been challenging for our JWN communities, and especially challenging for parents with children enrolled in online schooling. We hope that the food packages and vouchers will bring Christmas joy to the families that will benefit, but understand, only too well, that this act doesn’t replace the fun of a Christmas treat”.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, JWN Foundation has supported 17 schools in Kingston, Clarendon and St Elizabeth by providing food packages, back-to-school supplies, including tablets, sanitisers, masks, wash stations and other things needed to ensure that children have a comfortable space to learn in person and online.

The JWN Foundation operates under three pillars – education, cultural expressions and social inclusion – and focuses its attention in areas surrounding its business operations at Spanish Town Road in Kingston, New Yarmouth in Clarendon and Appleton Estate in St Elizabeth.