Grace kids benefit from scholarships

GRACEKENNEDY REAFFIRMED not only its commitment to education, but to its staff when 27 high-school and university children of its employees received assistance, valued at $30,000 or $100,000 respectively, to assist with back-to-school expenses.

Some students were in receipt of new bursaries, whereas others had bursaries renewed at the annual Carlton Alexander Bursary awards, held at its corporate offices, 73 Harbour Street, recently.

In congratulating the awardees, GraceKennedy Group chief executive officer (CEO), Don Wehby, expressed pride at the Carlton Alexander Bursary, so named in honour of the late former CEO of GraceKennedy. "It demonstrates GraceKennedy's commitment to education as a nation builder, as well as our commitment to staff, and our Grace 'we care' mantra". The programme is also significant because it rewards performance. Our former chairman, Carlton Alexander always insisted on excellence," Wehby said.

Extremely competitive

Executive director of the GraceKennedy Foundation, Caroline Mahfood, noted the difficulty in selecting this year's awardees. "We had a very challenging time this year as we received an extremely competitive batch of applicants. Of the 20 applications received, we selected eight persons to receive new bursaries - five secondary and three tertiary." The remaining 19 recipients had their bursaries renewed.

The Carlton Alexander bursaries are given, and renewed, solely on merit. Students must be children of GraceKennedy employees and must maintain at least a B average. Students are also encouraged to get involved in extra-curricular activities to make them more rounded individuals. Wehby reminded the awardees that there was an expectation that the bursaries would be paid back, "not in cash, but the way that Carlton Alexander would have wanted you to, with your very best efforts. With excellence!" he said.