Lennon High School footballers fête frontline workers

Lennon High School footballers treated 250 frontline workers at the May Pen Hospital with lunches, on Friday, September 2, with some also receiving gift baskets courtesy of Lasco and GraceKennedy.

Speaking about the project, Ainsworth Kelly, manager of the football team, said it was the norm for the boys to identify and execute a project every new season for the daCosta Cup competition.

Kelly said the school embarked on developing the footballers holistically as, over the years, players across different institutions have been branded as truants and troublemakers.

“We want to change that image of our boys at Lennon; thus, we have embarked on a project where the boys would have to identify a charitable project each year, and this year, we have decided to acknowledge the work of the frontline workers at the May Pen Hospital,” he shared with The Gleaner.

IMPACTED BY COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Pointing out that the frontline workers have been going through a lot since COVID-19 and would have risked their lives, he said the boys decided that they wanted to acknowledge the work they have been doing. Hence they decided to treat the frontline workers to lunch.

Kelly notes that as a team, it gave them a sense of fulfilment and pride that they were able to make such a wonderful gesture.

Bradley Edwards, senior medical officer for the May Pen Hospital, expressed happiness at the team’s initiative. Edwards, who also serves as the team’s doctor, said he had come a far way with the students.

“I have been the team doctor for some years, and I know where they are coming from. I know there were times when they never had any food. They could barely manage, and to see the heart that they have in the midst of [them] having the little that they have, they still want to reach out and give,” he shared.

Edwards notes that it is good to be appreciated knowing the healthcare staff have been working under adverse conditions through the pandemic.