Mon | Sep 23, 2024

Over 2,000 students benefit from JPS back-to-school assistance

Published:Monday | September 23, 2024 | 12:07 AM
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JPS VOLTS (volunteers on location to serve) on location at BB Coke High School in Junction, St Elizabeth. JPS hosted a watch party at their Olympic Village and delivered back-to-school supplies to residents.
Contributed
JPS VOLTS (volunteers on location to serve) on location at BB Coke High School in Junction, St Elizabeth. JPS hosted a watch party at their Olympic Village and delivered back-to-school supplies to residents.
Residents of Ginger Hill, St. Elizabeth at the JPS Back-to-School Treat.
Contributed
Residents of Ginger Hill, St. Elizabeth at the JPS Back-to-School Treat.
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JPS provided more than $37 million in back-to-school aid across the parishes of St Elizabeth, Trelawny, St Thomas and Kingston and St Andrew, benefiting over 2,000 students in preparation for the 2024-25 academic year. The contribution was a part of the company’s ongoing initiative for community development and supporting education as a critical pillar of safeguarding Jamaica’s future.

The funds were used to provide students with essential school supplies such as backpacks, water bottles, lunch kits, school stationeries and vouchers for books, uniforms and shoes. The assistance was aimed at reducing the financial strain on families island-wide.

Hugh Grant, president and CEO at JPS, noted that the expansion of the company’s back-to-school programme corresponds with the marked increase in the demonstration of need:

“The back-to-school programme is a core part of our efforts to uplift communities and it’s something we’ve been doing for years,” he said. “We had a number of back-to-school support events early in summer, but in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, we had to increase the level of support to respond to what the people highlighted as their most immediate needs in anticipation of the reopening of school,” he explained.

As part of its back-to-school outreach, JPS hosted fairs in several communities across St Elizabeth including Beacon, Ginger Hill, Balaclava, Southfield and Junction. The Junction fair was a collaborative effort between JPS, Digicel and Flow Foundations. In Southfield, JPS Foundation handed over 50 backpacks filled with school supplies to students at Mayfield Primary School during an event organised in partnership with the school and the Social Development Commission. The Balaclava back-to-school fair was a JPS-organised and executed event. Additionally, JPS Foundation and JPS Community Renewal teamed up with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) to carry out back-to-school activities in Green Mount (Carey Park), Trelawny. The light and power company also carried out back-to-school activities in Riverton Meadows and Grants Pen in St Andrew, Mount Salus in St Andrew and Leith Hall in St Thomas.

The JPS back-to-school initiatives are a core part of the utility’s work in supporting communities, further solidifying its role as a key partner in national development.