St Wade Basic School gets facelift from JPS Foundation

St Wade Basic School principal Sharron Quarrie had every reason to smile.

The early-childhood institution in Old Harbour Bay — where she has nurtured young minds for 34 years — was the focus of extensive refurbishment work on Labour Day, with support from the JPS Foundation and the South Jamaica Power Company.

"I feel so appreciative of them (JPS staff members) coming out to help the school," Quarrie said, as she filled buckets of water from an outdoor standpipe. "The community, the students and their parents welcome this, and all our hearts are full."

As preparations got under way to repaint classrooms and bathrooms, Quarrie moved to mop the floors, while volunteers from the island’s utility company fanned out across the campus. Dressed in JPS-branded shirts and denim, teams from the head office, control engineering department and the Old Harbour-based South Jamaica Power Company carried out a range of upgrades.

The work included bathroom repairs and the installation of toilets and basins, repainting of classrooms and kitchen areas, repairs to fencing, planting of seedlings, repainting playground equipment, and roofing improvements.

JPS Foundation Chairman Damian Obiglio, brush in hand, paused to take in the scene.

"I am amazed at the number of volunteers who came out today," he said, glancing at his colleagues sweeping, planting and painting. "This is impressive, and they have been here from 8:00 a.m. and they are all working."

A regular Labour Day volunteer, Obiglio said his involvement in such efforts spans two decades, beginning in 2006 during his tenure as JPS’s chief executive officer.

"Jamaica is a unique country in this aspect. I have been in many countries and it is the only country I know that celebrates Labour Day doing volunteer work, and that speaks a lot about the island and Jamaican people," he said. “For me, it's a way to give back to everything Jamaica gives me every day. Jamaica has given me a place to work and live, and that's why it means a lot."

That sentiment was echoed by Chameka Baker, a recent JPS Foundation scholarship recipient and student at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education in Portland. Between repainting the metal frame of a swing set, she explained her motivation.

"When I heard they were going to an infant school, I felt I needed to come to help out. It puts a smile on people's faces when you give a helping hand," said Baker, who hopes to become an agronomist.

Among those assisting was Andrea Whittick, chief commercial officer at ARC Manufacturing, one of the island’s leading building-materials companies, which contributed $500,000 in kind to the project.

"Our investment today is very important," Whittick said. "We are a fully Jamaican-owned company and we believe in investing in community upliftment and nurturing young minds. We want to help to put them in a space that is comfortable, where they can learn and also have fun."

ARC supplied galvanised pipes, lumber, paint and chain-link fencing, along with discounted materials to support the work.

Also on site was Stacey Passley-Brown, JPS’s customer onboarding manager, who worked alongside her daughters repainting the school kitchen.

"As parents, you want them to be developing holistically, and volunteerism is something I think they should get into," she said of her daughters, Kacey and Kamron.

A long-standing participant in JPS’s Volunteer on Location to Serve (VOLT) programme, and in recent post-Hurricane Melissa clean-up efforts, Passley-Brown views such work as essential.

"Being a volunteer is serving others and making a positive impact on someone else's life. I took my girls here so they too can recognise the need to help others," she said.

In addition to St Wade Basic School, JPS volunteers also carried out upgrades at the Salvation Army Basic School in Montego Bay.