Sygnus assists inner-city youth

As Jamaica gears up for the beginning of the new school year, Sygnus, a financial solutions firm, has donated J$100,000 to the St Patrick’s Foundation to ensure a number of inner-city youth return to their studies.

The handover was held on August 27 at the St Patrick’s Foundation head offices in Seaview Gardens, St Andrew – the community that benefits from much of the foundation’s efforts. The donation will be used to assist students with purchasing school supplies and other items needed for enabling their education.

While on location to hand over the cheque, Beris Grey, chief executive officer of the Sygnus Group, and Cerilin Hudson, Sygnus’ chief legal, compliance, and operational risk officer, met with staff and toured the facility to gain a better understanding of the foundation and its purpose and needs.

“Sygnus is very dedicated to giving back, especially to our nation’s youths,” said Grey. “Last year, St Patrick’s Foundation reached out to us for support, and after learning about their long history of assisting some of society’s most vulnerable, we were excited to assist them. This year is no different, and we see strong alignment between their mission and our social responsibility efforts. We hope our donations do indeed make a difference in the lives of the beneficiaries, and we’ll continue to assist the foundation in their future endeavours.”

BENEFICIARIES

The relationship between Sygnus and St Patrick’s Foundation was established in 2018, and this marks the second time that the firm has contributed to the foundation’s efforts. Hermine Metcalf, chairman of the St Patrick’s Foundation, said, “This donation is very much welcomed and much-needed. We plan to use it in our donations to students in the surrounding communities, including Riverton, Seaview, and Olympic Way, ranging from the primary to the tertiary level.

“As a matter of fact, a sum of this donation here will help to facilitate a particular student who will be embarking on her first year of studies at the University of Technology. We have been doing this back-to-school project for a number of years, and so we want to thank Sygnus for joining in and assisting us.”

St Patrick’s Foundation cares for and empowers at-risk youth and residents of low-income communities by providing training and development opportunities that will encourage social and economic advancement. The foundation provides human resource development and skills training through three community centres and a number of other initiatives.