Author Archives: JN Foundation

The JN Foundation continues to be humbled by the opportunity to serve, by finding ways to help countless Jamaicans fulfil their potential. In 2019, the JN Foundation team was pleased to be able to work in partnership with our young people, their communities and with our JN membership to inspire change in small and large ways.

Education

At the JN Foundation, we strongly believe in the role that education can play in uplifting families, communities and the nation at large. Over the course of 2019, we disbursed 264 scholarships, with at least 100 of those who benefitted being identified as residing in volatile and underserved communities.

Increasingly, our young people have been demonstrating a desire to understand ways of generating and managing money. This interest is to be commended. We were able to impart such knowledge to 817 young persons between the ages of 6-17 over the course of 2019. We truly look forward to them not only applying the information shared but also telling a friend or loved one. This is a key and necessary ingredient in generating the economic stability associated with Jamaica’s vision 2030.

Supporting our communities

At the heart of the endeavor to become the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business, is Jamaica’s need to solve and resolve the complex needs of a myriad of communities spread across the island. Here at the JN Foundation, we have elevated two areas that we see as critical to this endeavor – helping to shape a positive identity and addressing the unnecessary loss of life on the nation’s roadways.

In collaboration with the UWI Mona, we have been able to research, document and publish the parish histories of St. Thomas, Portland, Trelawny, St. Mary and St. Catherine. There is so much to learn from our past that can help in our decision-making for a better tomorrow. We continue to encourage community members to avail themselves of this information.

Research commissioned by the JN Foundation in 2017 – the Cost of Care report – revealed the extremely high cost and heavy burden being borne by the country, individual families and communities every time a road traffic crash occurs. This illuminating report has helped to us to further solidify our commitment to addressing road safety issues. During 2019, we continued to keep focus on the “X Marks the Spot School Crosswalk Campaign”, a partnership with UNICEF, designed to ensure our children have safe passage to and from school.

Labour Day 2019

For Labour Day, the JN Foundation partnered with UNICEF, Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment & Sport and Ministry of Labour to deliver the nationwide Labour Day campaign – “Child Safety – It’s You, It’s Me, It’s All Ah We”. What an inspirational moment to see so many communities coalesce around the need to keep our children safe, by electing to re-paint crosswalks in their locales.

2019 also heralded the inauguration of the JN Circles initiative – a network of JN members and customers who, together, are being exposed to opportunities to realize their full potential, and at the same time are jointly finding ways to help their communities.

The JN Foundation was pleased to work alongside the Member Ombudsman to conduct inaugural meetings for the new clubs and share with Circle members, different ways they could deliver impactful interventions in their communities.

Our Partners

It should be evident that all of the Foundation’s work over 2019 simply won’t be possible without our partners – our external donor partners, our sister companies in the JN Group and JN staff members. You make it all possible. We simply won’t want to do this without you.

A very special mention of the JN Foundation team – you persist in spite of the hurdles and are beyond committed to our various communities of interest. Well done, and let’s make 2020 even more memorable and impactful.

Onyka Barrett Scott

General Manager

JN Foundation

Parris Lyew Ayee, CD     

Chairman

Theme: “JN Foundation Will Help You Find A Way”

Over the course of 2019, the JN Foundation, the philanthropic arm of The Jamaica National Group, delivered truly impactful initiatives, each designed to help Jamaicans to find a way. This was achieved through continued commitment to programme delivery under our five key areas of work: skills and personal development, education, health and safety, social empowerment, and the environment.

Our Financial Literacy Project, a flagship initiative of the Foundation, was relentless about engaging and sharing the tools and knowledge on managing finances with countless Jamaicans. A total of 3,179 persons benefitted from 71 financial literacy sessions held across the country. The JN Foundation team is to be commended for their commitment, which has allowed them to engage 23,608 persons since 2014, helping each to understand their finances better.

An ongoing concern for us at the JN Foundation is the number of persons who lose their lives unnecessarily on the nation’s roadways each year. For several years we have dedicated ourselves to raising awareness on good road use habits, to reduce the carnage on the roads. Through our X Marks the Spot road-safety initiative, a partnership with UNICEF and ABERTIS Foundation, more than 5,000 students benefitted from the upgrades completed under the initiative. Further, 15,026 primary school children were better able to keep safe on our roads because of their participation in the Police in Schools Programme.

True to our mission to inspire change across the nation, the JN Foundation partnered with UNICEF and the Ministry of Culture under the national theme, “Road Safety – It’s You, It’s Me, It’s All Ah We”, to support the rehabilitation of crosswalks all over the country. It was good to see communities and individuals across the country get involved.

Each year I am inspired by the young students we assist to complete their high school education, through the JN Foundation’s Annual Scholarship Programme. In 2019, some 264 high achievers were awarded scholarships. A total of 34 students were awarded PEP Scholarships: 14 were parish high performers, 18 were the children of JN members of staff, and two were specially awarded scholars. Eighty-seven recipients were repeating JN Scholars who achieved averages of 70% and over on their high school reports, and 16 university students received a one-year tuition grant.

JN FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS – SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

The JN Foundation was especially pleased to award 26 student scholarships under our new scholarship offering – the Michael Holding Cricket Masters disbursement.

The JN Foundation Parish Histories Project continues in capturing the authentic stories and factual records of each Parish for the people of Jamaica to easily read.

Under the Water Project Jamaica, the JN Foundation pursued a dynamic programme to sensitize and educate Jamaicans to practise diverse water-saving measures at home and to improve their conservation of water with the installation of water-saving devices. This year, we piloted training in rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling for several developers, architects, students, and other interested persons.

Rainwater Harvesting & Grey Water Recycling Training Launch

I commend the outstanding JN Foundation team, led by Onyka Barrett Scott, General Manager, and the dedicated Members of the Board of Directors for being steadfast and committed to ensuring that the JN Foundation delivers on its promise, to “help Jamaicans to achieve their full potential.”

Well done, Team JN Foundation!

Parris A. Lyew-Ayee, CD

Chairman, JN Foundation