‘We really want to assist kids’

Two St Ann-based teachers, a mother and her daughter, have taken their dedication to caring for their young charges beyond the classroom as they seek to help needy students.

Alejandra Williams, a teacher at York Castle High in Brown’s Town, and her mother, Angela Whyne, who teaches at Columbus Prep in St Ann’s Bay, started their HeavenSent Foundation during the COVID-19 lockdown in December 2020, assisting persons in Steer Town and other communities with food and clothing.

When the pandemic eased, they formally registered HeavenSent Foundation and shifted the focus to education, targeting 10 students to receive grants for CSEC and CAPE examination payments.

The first presentation, which had been set for October 20 at St Mary High School, was postponed as protests by public transport operators over poor road conditions erupted in several communities in St Mary.

On October 25, the team finally made the trek to the school to present Shawn Palmer with a first cheque for $20,000, with additional funding to be made.

Palmer expressed delight at being chosen a scholarship winner and is the first of 11 secondary school students from St Ann, St Mary and Trelawny who HeavenSent has targeted for inclusion in this first round of scholarship presentations.

The other students are from Williams’ alma mater, Westwood, from where four students will benefit; Ferncourt, three; and one each for Ocho Rios, Marymount, and York Castle high schools.

“It’s the first we’re doing the scholarships on such a large scale. We did three or four before registering the foundation and now we’re giving over 10 kids,” Williams told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

“We start by identifying outstanding students who may be in need. It’s not just about the CAPE and CSEC fees, we really want to assist kids who are having financial difficulties,” she explained.

Prior to launching the scholarships, Williams and Whyne had reached out to several persons in Steer Town and Falkland in Ocho Rios, St Ann, Jackson Town in Trelawny, offering food and clothing packages, and even journeyed to Seaview Gardens in Kingston to present a wheelchair to a young female.

“We went into Seaview Gardens as somebody had reached out to us, because we have a form that persons can fill out, explaining their needs, So we moved into Seaview Gardens and donated a wheelchair,” Wiliams said.

She continued: “We also started a renovation project for a blind man in Steer Town because we focus a lot on the disabled, the elderly and the sick. We visit the shut-ins. My mother would cook sometimes and we go down and feed them. Then, in September, we had our first back-to-school giveaway. Then, for October, it’s the scholarships.”

The HeavenSent Foundation has since started another area of outreach from the cholarship programme.

“We’ve initiated something called the Young Scholars Programme because we’re both teachers. This is where the youth will become ambassadors through the programme and they’re going to now be a part of outreach activities in the three parishes – St Ann, Trelawny and St Mary.”

Williams explained that the scholarships can be renewed, with one of the requirements for renewal being for applicants to be actively involved as ambassadors.