Monthly Archives: January 2018

Caribbean countries that were devastated by hurricanes Irma and Maria during the recent hurricane season will benefit from donations received through the JN Foundation’s ‘Help Our Caribbean Neighbours’ campaign, which was mounted on its ISupport Jamaica funding site.

The campaign, launched in October, resulted in members of the public and employees of companies and organisations in the Jamaica National Group donating to the cause.

Rose Miller, grants manager at JN Foundation, who officially handed over the contributions to United Way of Jamaica on Thursday, December 21 at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew, commended persons who responded to the campaign.

“We are grateful to those who contributed, having seen the need to reach out to our Caribbean neighbours. We are always seeking opportunities to help others.The Jamaica National Group plays an integral role regionally, therefore, we endeavour to reach out when there is a need,” Miller said.

BENEFITING FAMILIES

Winsome Wilkins, chief executive officer of United Way of Jamaica, expressed gratitude to the JN Foundation and members of the public who supported the campaign.

“Our thanks to JN Foundation, which is a serious partner with us in the voluntary sector. We value their support,” she said, explaining that the funds will be merged with a larger pool of funds to be used in the rehabilitation and restoration process and help families in those islands to pursue economic activities.

“There is a pool of funds that will be allocated to the Salvation Army and to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, which are already on the ground doing work, and identifying the families that would benefit,” she said.

Wilkins said that the campaign, organised by United Way across Jamaica, has already received some $3 million in contributions to the hurricane relief effort. This, she said, was in addition to in-kind contributions.

“The campaign was successful, and of course, for us at United Way, rehabilitation and restoration are areas which we focus on in times of disaster,” she said.

Several islands were affected by the hurricanes, which moved across the northern Caribbean leaving a trail of death and destruction. Some of the countries to benefit from the contributions from Jamaica, are Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, Dominica, and Haiti.

See the original article here!

“Moneybags… he loves Christmas! Moneybags… that’s for sure! Moneybags… he loves Christmas, Christmas he adores!”

Tens of children hummed the new jazzy ‘carol’ as they exited the Dennis Scott Studio Theatre at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts after viewing A Carol for Moneybags, recently.

A Jamaicanised revue of Charles Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol, also known simply as Scrooge for its popular protagonist/antagonist, A Carol for Moneybags presents a delightful Jamaican adaptation of the old, miserly businessman, who castigates his employees and others for spreading holiday cheer and kindness.

However, similar to Ebenezer Scrooge in the classic tale, old Egbert Moneybags discovers the true meaning of Christmas, and becomes a reformed man after meeting four ‘Chrismusduppies’, visions, which are suggested to be triggered by an undigested meal of stewed peas.

The spirits that visit him include his former business partner, ‘Interest’, who has received a second chance at life as a dreadlocked small farmer and has returned to warn Moneybags to repent; and interestingly, not the Grim Reaper himself, standing ghastly with his sickle, but the media, which is positioned as the ‘Ghost of Christmas Future’, enlightening Moneybags, via a newscast, about the lonely, miserable death that awaits him if he fails to repent.

The audience of youngsters, and even adults, heartily shared in Moneybags’ repentance by the end of the musical.

“Give him a second chance,” one boy pleaded, as the live television cameras focused on him for an opinion on the fate of old Moneybags.

However, not everyone was forgiving. “Him too mean and miserable,” another child murmured.

Whatever they thought about old Moneybags, the lesson was clear: Christmas is about giving and sharing, just as Christ was born to give his life to save the human race.

… Moneybags brings music back to season
The close to 100 children, parents, and teachers attending the performance from the George Headley and Harbour View primary schools in St Andrew laughed excitedly, as the Grinch-like Moneybags hissed and huffed, and shouted and shoved, even when his frail old body seemed unable to do the job.

“The children enjoyed it thoroughly. It was funny, and it certainly brought back the music in Christmas!” commented Arlene Lewis, a teacher of the George Headley Primary School in Duhaney Park, St Andrew.

She added that the A Christmas Carol adaptation, A Carol for Moneybags, made the classic story more relatable to the children, and that it was a good way to continue exposing them to theatre and the performing arts.

“Thanks to JN Bank for inviting us and for also including the teachers and coaches of our quiz team,” she concluded. “Even up until now, the children are running around the school singing Moneybags.”

George Headley are the 2017 champions of Television Jamaica Junior Schools’ Challenge Quiz competition.

Chevanese Peters, project officer at the JN Foundation, explained that the performance was sponsored through the JN Bank Member Advisory Councils from the Half-Way Tree, Duke Street, and downtown Kingston branches of the bank.

“They simply wanted to do something for children that would not simply fete them for the Christmas, but provide them with ideas and concepts to underscore the meaning of Christmas,” Peters said.

The advisory councils include employees of JN Bank branches and community members, who identify and implement projects to benefit youngsters and adults in the communities where JN Bank branches are located across the country.

“A Carol for Moneybags provided a fun and meaningful way to achieve our objective,” Peters said. “It certainly raised the spirits of the youngsters,” she quipped. “From their comments, it was clear that many of them got the message.”

A Carol for Moneybags showcases a cast of students currently studying at the Edna College of the Visual and Performing Arts, and is the second production of the School of Drama for the academic year. It is written by renowned playwright and journalist Barbara Gloudon and is directed by dramaturge and director of the School of Drama, Pierre Lemaire. It also features original songs by Conroy Cooper and choreography by Patrick Earle.

See the original article here!

Avi Silverman, deputy director of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) Foundation, commended the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Jamaica National Group for the establishment of a new state-of-the-art Road Safety Hub at the Elletson Road Police Station in Kingston.

Silverman, who was in Jamaica for the Child Health Initiative /NRSC Safety Policy Forum, toured the Road Safety Hub earlier this month.

“What is amazing in Jamaica is the level of collaborations among the police, the National Works Agency, the Mona Geoinformatics Institute, and the private sector. It is incredible,” said, as he observed the real-time road crash and network data, which is available to the Traffic and Highway Division of the JCF.

Head of the Traffic Division senior superintendent Calvin Allen said that through these partnerships, the new facility has provided information which helps the Division to train its personnel and to better strategise.

“This is live information as to traffic flow at certain points in the Corporate Area. While this will be used as a teaching point, we also use it as a means of re-deploying our officers if we need to. So by monitoring, we can see whether there is a collision at a point, whether congestion exists, and we would use this information to redeploy our resources if necessary,” he said.

The Road Safety Hub was made possible through a public-private partnership with the JN General Insurance Company Limited (JNGI), the Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA), the JN Foundation, and the FIA Foundation.

“We believe in partnership, and we have partnered with several companies, but the JN Foundation is out front, like a Usain Bolt, to make this Road Safety Hub a reality. Thanks to the JN Foundation, (which) has come on board and did all the lobbying for us to establish this facility,” he added.

Onyka Barrett-Scott, partnership and development manager at the JN Foundation, commended the FIA for its support to the initiatives of the JN Foundation.

“We are really grateful to the FIA Foundation for this continued partnership with the JAA and, as a result, we were able to deepen our collaboration with the JCF and other partners based on your support,” she said.

The Road Safety Hub was opened last month by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. It also serves as a community resource centre for residents in the proximity of the Hub.

See the original article here!