Shelly-Ann goes to school

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Olympic and World 100-metre champion Shelly-Ann Fraser was a big hit on Thursday as she teamed up with one of her major sponsors, GraceKennedy, to tour five primary schools across the Corporate Area and St Catherine.

The mission was to promote GraceKennedy's Primary School Rewards competition while enhancing the message of peace and love in schools.

GraceKennedy is a major sponsor of the Peace and Love in Society (PALS) programme, and Fraser, who, earlier this year, was named as its goodwill ambassador of peace for 2010, relished the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of her biggest fans while spreading the message of peace and fair play.

"I'm really excited about this opportunity. I always look forward to partnering with GraceKennedy, and I must say that this has been a very fulfilling experience for me," said Fraser during the tour.

Schools visited

The convoy first rolled into St Catherine Primary, moving on to Friendship Primary and Spanish Town Primary in St Catherine. It then moved to St Richard's Primary and Mountain View Primary in the Corporate Area.

"It's a way for us to interact more with the community, especially with the primary-school kids who are our core consumers," said David Reid, senior brand manager of Grace's Vienna sausages.

"Shelly-Ann (Fraser) has been our PALS goodwill ambassador for peace. GraceKennedy has been the main sponsor of PALS for this year, and through our association with her, we brought her into the schools to interact with the children," Reid said.

Fraser, who has enjoyed what seems to be a very successful alignment with the corporate giants, gleefully spoke about the association, and was touched by the outpouring of affection that she received from the youngsters.

"When I go into the schools and I see some of the responses from the students, I'm really overwhelmed with emotion. It's extremely important for me because these small ones are some of our most important fans, and I'm always looking to set a positive example for them to follow because they need as much of that as possible," Fraser reasoned.

The GraceKennedy Vienna Sausages Primary School Rewards competition invites primary schools that are participating in the PALS programme to bring in as many Vienna sausage labels as possible, with the school with the most labels in each county getting a party featuring the company's popular mascot Vinnie and PALS mascot Perky, in the first week in December, as well as an appliance of choice for their home economics department.