‘Graceful Wish’ gives support to five schools for community development
Published:Saturday | June 1, 2024 | 12:07 AMKeisha Hill/ Senior Gleaner Writer
A core part of the mission at Grace Foods, and the wider GraceKennedy Group, is to help build communities, and positively impact and change lives.
Through the ‘Graceful Wish’ initiative an extension of the brand’s ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) outreach programme, which is executed all year round, the organisation supports projects and institutions that fall under the categories of early childhood education, community development, and youth development through sports.
Launched in November 2023, the initiative invited the public to nominate projects and institutions that were aligned within these areas.
Over 100 nominations were received, with 10 institutions and projects being shortlisted by a committee. The public voted on Grace Foods’ Instagram page, and the following institutions and projects received the most votes: Elim Early Childhood, Portmore, St Catherine; Nazareth Basic School, Maidstone, Manchester; Cromarty Grove Early Childhood Development Centre, Spanish Town, St Catherine; Alley Infant School, Clarendon; and Snowdon Primary and Infant School in Newport, Manchester.
Grace Foods recently gifted these five educational institutions with a total of $4million. Elim Early Childhood received $2,000,000, having accumulated the highest number of votes; in second place was Nazareth Basic School, who received $1,000,000; Cromarty Grove Early Childhood Development Centre received $500,000 for third place, and rounding out the top five were Alley Infant, and Snowdon Primary and Infant School, who received $250,000 each. The funds are to go directly towards development work at the institution, which ranges from erecting a fence, building of additional classrooms to putting in a netball court.
Venice Williams Burrell, principal of Elim Early Childhood, said as an institution they were happy for the assistance they have received. “We are really grateful. We have been in need of renovations for a while and this prize will go a long way in allowing us to expand our resources and create a more conducive learning environment for our students,” she explained.
According to Karen Mussington, shopper experience manager at Grace Foods, having the handover in Child Month is especially significant and meaningful for Grace Foods, as education and youth development is an integral part of our focus as a company.
She added that it was even more symbolic that the top five projects were educational institutions, showing the impact and significant role schools play in our communities and nation having garnered so much support from the public for their various projects.
“We are delighted to see the positive impact that the Graceful Wish initiative has had on these institutions, and we are excited to see how the funds will help them to enhance and transform their teaching and learning spaces,” said Tamara Thompson, general manager, Grace Foods.
Sharing that the ethos of Grace Foods is anchored on the mantra, ‘We Care’, Thompson noted that the company takes pride in investing in, and connecting with communities across Jamaica to positively impact their lives.
“We are happy to play our part in contributing to a brighter future for Jamaica, and our youth and their education play a major role in making that bright future a reality,” she said.