Charity central for Rita Marley’s birthday celebrations

The Rita Marley Foundation, in commemoration of Rita Marley’s 76th birthday celebrations, kicked off her month-long birthday activities with several charitable endeavours, including a coastal initiative dubbed One Rita Beach Clean-Up at 8 Miles in Bull Bay, St Thomas.

“The beach clean-up is one of the community service activities that we have sponsored for the cultural legend and philanthropist. We invited volunteers from the community to assist in the clean-up activities, as the beach here at Jamnesia is very important to them. It is where they surf, so we have to make sure that it is clean for their use,” said Alicia Williams, foundation manager at the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation.

Williams said the beach clean-up activities were a way of giving back to the community and ensuring a safe environment for people that use the beach and depend on it as a source of income.

“Some persons will not be in the traditional nine-to-five job scenario, but they will want to be surfers. So it is creating a legacy for them for the future. The children are on the beach as well and we also want to keep them safe,” she said.

Volunteers and members of the community combined their strengths and efforts to remove garbage and debris from the beach. At the end of the day, more than 500 pounds of garbage were removed from the beach, including plastic and glass bottles, items of clothing, metal, lighters, pampers and condoms. Sargassum weed was also cleared from the beach.

Maggie Wilmot, co-owner and operator of the Jamnesia compound located on the beach said removing garbage from the beach is a continuous effort.

“There would have been a lot more garbage. However, we had cleaned the beach for Bob Marley’s birthday celebrations in February. This amount however, is significant especially during such a short period of time. We anticipate that, as we are in the hurricane season and, as the tide comes in, that we will have even more garbage piling up on the beach,” Wilmot said.

Rita Marley will celebrate her July 25 76th birthday in true iconic fashion this year. To commemorate the occasion, dubbed ‘One Rita: Royal and Rootsy’, the Marley family has planned a series of events culminating in a concert fit for the reggae queen.

“Rita Marley is special. She is the wife of the reggae legend Bob Marley. She also created her own legacy and she is also a humanitarian. This is why the Rita Marley Foundation exists to continue that legacy, as she has made significant contributions worldwide,” Williams said.

Other charitable initiatives for the Rita Marley’s birthday commemoration include The Reggae Closet, a free boutique for Kingston’s inner-city communities, which was held on Friday, and a women’s health and wellness day, that was held at Jamnesia on Wednesday, and saw providers of health services giving back to the community.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com