http://jamaica-gleaner.com/sites/default/files/styles/jg_article_image/public/media/article_images/2020/05/27/850648/3607066.jpg?itok=BFwdFpsz — Principal of Old Harbour High School, Linton Weir, is happy to hand a care package to grade-eight student Indiran Robinson and her mother, Tracey-Ann Hardware, at the school earlier this week, courtesy of New Fortress Energy (NFE) Foundation and Food For The Poor (FFP). Also in the photo (from left) are Kivett Silvera, executive director at FFP, and Joel Campbell, community liaison officer at NFE.Contributed

New Fortress Energy Foundation gives students 200 care packages

27 May 2020, 05:18

WHEN THE principal of Old Harbour High School placed a call for help to provide meals for students on the school’s PATH programme, New Fortress Energy Foundation immediately responded by delivering close to 200 care packages to the school last week Wednesday.

According to Linton Weir, principal of the St Catherine-based high school, 790 students receive breakfast and lunch daily while they’re at school as part of the Government’s PATH programme. Given the islandwide closure of all schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Weir said he discovered that the families of these students were in dire need of help to feed their households, and so he used up the school’s food inventory to support these most vulnerable families, while also sounding the alarm for others to help.

“I was overjoyed and deeply grateful when I received a call from New Fortress Energy Foundation offering to help,” said Weir. “We have done all that we can using our own resources, plus donations from other corporate companies, to provide help for a little over 300 students, but we still had about 400 students who needed help. So, we are extremely thankful and relieved that NFE answered our cry for help in such a meaningful way.”

With a commitment to education and to uplifting Jamaica’s next generation, NFE continues to embark on several educational and community initiatives in Old Harbour since its inception in Jamaica. These include providing back-to-school supplies and financial aid for close to 1,000 infant and primary school students, bursaries of $50,000 each for fifth- and sixth-form students at Old Harbour High School, donation of equipment to facilitate training for hundreds of unskilled youths at the community centre, and tertiary scholarships.

DIFFICULT TIME

Verona Carter, vice-president, public affairs at New Fortress Energy, said, “We know that this is a very difficult time for many families – and especially for these students who continue to defy their social circumstances to earn an education in order to carve out a better future for themselves and their families. We feel their pain, and as a company, we remain committed to education and providing an environment for students to learn and thrive. Old Harbour has also been very important to us – we value the deep partnership that we have with this special community and we are very proud to serve them in any way that we can.”

As part of its COVID-19 relief efforts, New Fortress Energy continues to partner with Food For The Poor to deliver care packages to over 750 vulnerable individuals and shut-in across communities in Old Harbour, St Catherine; and the Hayes refinery communities in Clarendon, as well as to healthcare workers at the Spanish Town and May Pen hospitals. NFE has also provided financial support to facilitate online math classes for students preparing for the upcoming CXC/CAPE exams, as well as donated over J$2.5 million to Citizens Response Jamaica for the supply of ventilators.