Giving back hereditary for Chadai Dryden

Giving back is not a choice, it is hereditary for Chadai Dryden. She grew up in a household with an extended family, including her maternal grandmother, who assisted many people. In addition, her parents showed the same kind of love and appreciation for everyone they came in contact with.

Dryden is from South West St Andrew, in the Whitfield Town community off Maxfield Avenue on a road known as Pretoria Road.

“I believe I realised that both nature and nurture started manifesting in my high-school days, I would save my lunch money as my father would always come to the grill and say ‘face on the first call original on the second call you don’t have any money someone checking me for a lunch money, bus fare, etc,” Dryden said.

OUT-OF-POCKET CONTRIBUTIONS

Treats were held in her community by the Pretoria diaspora and other prominent persons. However, one of the Christmas treats that were held in the Four Way intersection was an out-of-pocket contribution by her father and her uncle who migrated among others.

“My grandmother sold toys in Half-Way Tree at Christmas and would pack a box of toys and she donated them to the treat. In later years we had a grocery store in Kencot and she did the same,” Dryden said.

As a result of the violence in her community and the various incidents that occurred during the treat the turnouts became minimal. However, her father decided to fund a treat for elderly in the week of Christmas and paid various skilled persons in the community to trim, shave, do manicure and pedicure and wash their hair.

“On Christmas Day they were entertained, fed and given packages which included flour, rice, sugar and tin foods. The days leading up to these events I would be at the grocery store wrapping and packing with the aim of assisting at least 150 to 200 persons. The team of persons that began assisting in this venture labelled ourselves as Team Empire,” Dryden said.

During the period of 2012 to 2014 while pursuing her master’s degree, Pretoria Road entered in the Portia Simpson Netball League matches that were played on Sundays between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., while her classes were also on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “I attended every match as I was the goalshooter and my team depended on me,” Dryden said.

She started working at GraceKennedy in 2016 and found someone who had a similar passion as her father’s. They started assisting in that foundation’s goals which included back-to-school treats, ice-cream treats, painting of institutions, etc.

“Through the Elitte Club and later House of SDM persons received devices, eyeglasses, back-to-school supplies and much more. We even did an ice cream treat on Pretoria Road and left boxes of ice cream on other roads to engage the children and showed them that someone external cared,” she said.

“In the Easter we did the bun and cheese treat for the elderly as the event was primarily funded by my father. We bought the buns and the large tin of cheese and shared it so persons were able to share in the Easter festivity. We also aided in providing supplies to the infant school in the community. The continued violence in the community drove my father to no longer be a part of the community, but I never left,” Dryden said.

With the footprint that her father made Team Empire decided to continue trying by revamping the back-to-school treat, that was no longer held in the Four Way but now on Pretoria Road. The treat is now funded by the Pretoria Road Diaspora, the team persons in and around the community, House of SDM, Eva Bless Fashion.

“The Pretoria Road United Church has started a Spelling Bee competition and I am a part of the coaching team. The sixth-grade students on Pretoria Road, including my daughter, sat the PEP exams in 2021 and we held a graduating ceremony, gifted them with cake, food and ice cream and gave them guest speakers including myself to guide them in the next phase,” Dryden said.

Dryden considers herself blessed with the foundation of good parents, and family support that has enabled her to give back to her community.

“Currently, most of the homes in the community are single parents and absent parents. I want to try and extend to persons how it feels to be grounded, how it feels to have a foundation that you can build on. I was lucky enough to find it inside my home, but through my service at least one child out there knows that someone outside their homes can assist, no strings attached just pure love,” Dryden said.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com