Second City schools get Labour Day facelift
Published:Tuesday | May 25, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU: The Granville All-Age School and Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James, got some well-needed Labour Day facelifts thanks to volunteers' efforts on Monday.
This year's Labour Day, which was observed under the theme 'Our Children ... Show Them We Care', saw different groups doing beautification work at the two locations.
At Cornwall Regional Hospital in Mount Salem, 60 employees from the Bank of Nova Scotia teamed up with hospital staff to paint the entrance and inside of the Accident and Emergency Depart-ment building, and also to plant palm trees and a flower garden on the department's grounds.
Janet Richards of Scotiabank in Montego Bay told The Gleaner that the project was chosen because of the anticipated impact it would have on the Second City.
"Cornwall Regional takes care of the western region, and we believe that if we give it a better facelift on arrival for those persons that are coming in, that are critically ill, it would allow them to feel much better," Richards told The Gleaner.
"With the volunteers and the joint project from the hospital staff, this is giving back to Montego Bay from what we get from the community."
grateful
Orlain Nembhard, manager of the Accident and Emergency Department, expressed gratitude for the facelift.
"Certain areas in the department we will not be able to complete today, especially in the trauma area ... but we are very grateful to Scotiabank and their team in providing us financially and with their moral support, and I think it's going to be a great day today," she remarked.
Meanwhile, Gas Products Limited's (Gas Pro) western branch worked together with representatives from Granville All-Age School's parent-teacher and past students' associations to repaint the grade one block and pedestrian crossing near the school entrance. The team also erected pedestrian signs close by.
According to Gas Pro's Western Area Manager Earl Sterling, the project is part of Gas Pro's social-outreach programme for schools across Jamaica.
"We've chosen Granville All-Age as one of the schools where we believe there can be tremendous effort and progress if we partner with them, because that is planning for the future," Sterling said confidently.
He added that Gas Pro planned to construct a netball court and institute mentorship and breakfast programmes.
"What essentially is important is that we start this partnership, which can encompass not only the teachers, but the parents and the broader society, and the community," said Sterling. "The children are ours ... it's an extended parenting, and we believe that if we can start in this small token way, as we go along we'll find areas that will be beneficial to all the parties."
Granville principal Ann-Marie Brown expressed appreciation for Gas Pro's intervention.
"We hope and pray that this venture will not just stop here, but it will be a long-lasting thing, be etched in the minds of everyone, and, most of all, ... we want them to learn in a very wonderful environment. The children are our main players here, and for them we will stop at nothing."