Massive support for LIME's Skool Aid
Published:Monday | August 23, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Patrina Pink, Gleaner Intern
No sour faces were spotted at LIME's 'Skool Aid' back-to-school fair at the Jamworld Centre in Portmore on the weekend.
Jamworld evoked memories of Coney Park, with thousands of youngsters, 300 coming from as far as western Kingston, streaming into Portmore to make the most of the fleeting moments of summer.
The telecommunications firm transformed Jamworld into an amusement park, a health, dentistry and information ground, as well as a back-to-school resource centre.
The company also provided special back-to-school discounts on mobile handsets and provided more than 5,000 LIME-branded backpacks with schoolbooks and other supplies for the children.
However, the free bags on Saturday brought out the uglier side of some parents, who shoved their children to the front of the lines in fear that the stock would run out. This proved a challenge for LIME organisers, who had not anticipated the bellicosity of the crowd.
"I've never seen anything like this. The problem isn't the children, it's the parents. They keep pushing their children to the front," said LIME vice-president of marketing, Patrick Gillings.
Gillings said LIME had to create extra lines and reinforce the borders to keep patrons at bay. Security officers were also challenged to control the eager crowd, and a legion of LIME workers, most of them youngsters, had a Herculean task on their hands. They worked feverishly to hand out school bags to a somewhat impatient crowd.
Well behaved
Yesterday, Gillings said things were running smoothly.
"The people formed a proper line and were very well behaved," he said. "The crowd is bigger than (Saturday) and the weather's been good to us. No rain, everything has been super."
On Saturday, LIME also transported 300 children from west Kingston, rocked by civil unrest in May, and provided them with back-to-school packages and lunch.
Upper Cut barbers provided free haircuts for boys aged 14 and younger, and the Ministry of Health capitalised on the assembly and provided free immunisation for children.
The spot was also ideal for parents who might have had trouble getting schoolbooks and other supplies as Sangster's Book Stores, Pearsons Publishers and Carlong Publishers all had booths and special promotions to meet students' back-to-school needs.
The ministry and the Jamaica Library Service featured a reading area that facilitated celebrity readings from well-known personalities like Etana and Chris Dehring.