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Dreaming The Possible Dream

Published:Sunday | November 10, 2013 | 12:00 AM
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Winston Lawson and his wife, Camille, are all smiles for our camera.
John Azar and his wife, Gabriela, make a smashing pair at the JCC's annual Grand Charity Ball.
Kayon Wallace, senior infor-mation and public relations officer at WINDALCO, makes a fashion statement in a trendy black-and-white number.
Sean Chung and Marguerite Cremin Chung make their entrance at the ball.
Dianne Ashton-Smith (left) LIME's Kim Lee put their best fashion foot forward and their most Vogue-like pose.
Sameer Younis and wife, Leila, open the dance floor at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce's Civic Affairs Committee's Grand Charity Ball. -Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Lascelles Chin and wife, Eileen, take a spin on the dance floor.
Sameer Younis having a whale of a time singing along with Anna-Kaye Morris, a student of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.
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JCC Grand Charity Ball raises funds for inner-city projects

Jody-Anne Lawrence, Gleaner Writer

The Civic Affairs Committee of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) held its annual Grand Charity Ball on November 2, under the theme 'Dream the Possible Dream'.

The women looked smashing and the men held their own in exquisite tuxedos, looking like they had been ripped from the pages of GQ Magazine, as they strolled into The Jamaica Pegasus hotel for the annual affair.

Not only did they look good, but they knew how to party. Sameer Younis and his wife, Leila, opened the dance floor, and the young and young at heart quickly joined in to get the party rocking.

Though the event was a celebration, it was not just fun and games, as the ball was in support of the JCC's inner-city development projects.

In his vote of thanks, chairman of the Civic Affairs Committee, Sameer Younis, recognised the corporate entities that helped with the gate prizes and the committee members who helped to make the event possible.

BELIEVES IN HELPING YOUTH

Younis stressed how much he believed in the project to support young people, giving them the skills they need to be successful in today's world.

"Until we get mothers and fathers and not childbearers and sperm donors, this country is going nowhere," Younis told guests, adding that good parenting is fundamental to the nation's development.

During his speech, he handed the microphone to the valedictorian for the 55th cohort of the Civic Affairs Inner-City Training Programme, Monique Wellington, who shared her experience.

Wellington said there were initial struggles of trust, but relationships were developed with unlikely allies.

"There was no trust, because we came from different communities, and there was a lack of trust to share stories about our communities, especially because there were police officers in the group. No one wanted to be labelled an informer," she recalled.

She noted, however, that in the end, a good relationship between civilians and the police officers was created.

Though that was an accomplishment, for her, the major benefit of the project was that she was able to gain skills in areas such as small-business management. She now looks forward to moving into the working world.

Wellington was an example of what Younis wants to accomplish and why the ball is integral to Jamaica's development, which was highlighted in his closing statement: "A person's home address doesn't make a person." The JCC's Civic Affairs Committee wants to ensure this isn't the case.