Students from the Maxfield Park Children's Home in St Andrew have expressed gratitude following the donation of school bags from the LIME Foundation in a period where the list of recommended school supplies has proven quite a burden.

"Every year, we have challenges with how we try to find funding or even the basic necessities for these children going back to school. So when I heard that LIME was having back-to-school giveaways, I decided to approach and ask them to make a donation of school bags for the children," said Aaron Walters, the guidance counsellor at the children's home.

There are currently 99 children living at the children's home and more than 90 per cent attend regular public schools. The rest attend a basic and special needs school on the compound.

"It will go a long way in helping us. We really appreciate LIME coming on board and helping us … . We would also like to encourage other corporate personnel … to make donations. Please feel free to do so as we are also in need of books and other material for our children," Walters added.

Errol Miller, chairman of the LIME Foundation, told The Gleaner the initiative was a part of LIME's dedication to promoting education over the years.

GIVING BACK TO JAMAICA

"Even though our back-to-school push has been completed, we still found a few extra bags and provided them as they were for a worthy cause. At LIME, we believe in giving back to the country. We live here and we make our money here, so we should give back to society. It is as simple as that," he said.

The foundation will also continue with its mandate in the proliferation of free Internet access in schools.

"We are focusing on primary schools and will be giving 300 primary schools free Internet service in the next three years. We are hoping to have the first 50 done by the end of October," Miller added.