IN AN elegant setting where the soft, soothing sounds from the saxophone of Errol Hurd beckoned and smiles sparkled in the dimly lit ballroom of the Renaissance Jamaica Grande Hotel, officers of the Social Development Commission (SDC) recently recognised nine individuals who have served the organisation with distinction for periods ranging from 19 to 32 years.
At a reception in their honour, the awardees each received a gift package, citation and trophy as a symbol of the agency's appreciation for their contribution to community development.
Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sports, Portia Simpson Miller, headed the list of guests who participated in the event. She said the awardees contributed to the status of the SDC as a service delivery and ideas agency and pointed out that they symbolise the spirit of a brighter social order.
"Together, all nine of them have contributed over 200 years of service to the Commission and we may interpret their long service a mark of loyalty and commitment to the goals of the SDC," she said. Adding that their work and contributions were never driven purely by money but instead with full understanding of voluntary work as a key pillar of community development and nation building.
The Minister commended the awardees for operating as a team, without which, she said, they would not have survived the many organisational, changes and pressures. "It is for all these reasons that the SDC and a grateful Jamaican nation celebrate you."
Noting that the organisation was indebted to the awardees for the unselfish and committed service they rendered to the agency, executive director of the SDC, Robert Bryan, hinted that the organisation would be rehiring outstanding retirees as consultants as part of its new thrust for community renewal.
The awardees were Manchester's Grace Campbell, who served for 32 years; Hubert Hogg, St. James; Cynthia Harrison from Clarendon for 29 1/2 years; Westmoreland's Paulette Dryden-Smith, Stephanie Ricketts and Paulette Tucker for 19, 25 and 19 years, respectively; Lurline Hosang, Hanover, 28 years; and St. Elizabeth's Marie Scarlett and Myrtlyn Channer, 22 and 20 years, respectively.
