Rewarding volunteerism! This was the platform on which Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen awarded eight students who gave up their summer vacation/holiday to volunteer at non-profit organizations island-wide.
The selfless ten were awarded under one arm of the Governor-General’s Programme For Excellence, the I Believe Initiative, which is staging its second Summer of Service Competition this year. The competition was first held in 2013. The 2014 awardees are: Britanny Mossop, Diandra Stephens, Chrystal Brown, Curtis Moxam, Oral Edwards, Kavion Grant, Sophia Richards, Ackera Gowie, Ricka-Ann Miles and Kaylia Spence.
Sir Patrick described the awards as a small token to the recipients who he said were well deserving given the passion and perseverance they showed in completing their projects. He said that their effort was a “narrative of volunteerism which should be chronicled and told to all Jamaicans to inspire them to give more of their time to help our fellowmen.”
To this end, Sir Patrick noted that although the Initiative is relatively young they are working to build a solid foundation so that more scholarships can be offered to more volunteers. “We have established a mechanism which we hope will yield profitable returns so that we can increase the number of scholarships we offer for this competition,” he said.
The scholarships and prizes were made available through the kind contribution of the University of Technology, Northern Caribbean University, Newport Fersan Jamaica Limited, Sandals Foundation, Kingston Bookshop, Lasco Jamaica Limited, Derrimon Trading Co. Limited and the I Believe Initiative.
Curtis Moxam, who responded on behalf of the recipients, said that “Sir Patrick Allen has been doing so much for young people. I just want to thank him for investing his time talent and treasure in us, young people. We are very motivated by the fact that he believes in us, and we too believe that we can transform Jamaica by using what is right with Jamaica.”