The Best Dressed Chicken delights Spring Village
Published:Saturday | December 23, 2023 | 12:08 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
It was a joyous occasion for Gwendolyn Gilbert, who on Thursday received a care package from her former employer, the Jamaica Broilers Group.
The company, under its The Best Dressed Chicken brand, hosted a Christmas treat on the grounds of the Spring Village Development Foundation (SVDF) in St Catherine.
Gilbert was among dozens of senior citizens who received Christmas hampers containing grocery items, a whole chicken, and toiletries. The treat also catered to children, who were invited to be fêted to food, music and amusement rides.
Speaking with The Gleaner, Gilbert, who worked at Jamaica Broilers for 30 years, said that she was feeling very happy after receiving the Christmas hamper and stated that she enjoyed the company’s annual treat as it always brings holiday cheer to the community.
The 82-year-old said that her Christmas wish is for all Jamaicans to remain safe this season and that all will be well for families across the island.
Cyrine Cargill, human resources officer and community liaison of The Best Dressed Chicken, informed The Gleaner that the event has been a long-standing tradition within the community as the company viewed the residents as family.
“From the company’s perspective, this community has been our home. The people around it, most of our employees are from within the community. So, it’s a thing where the entire Jamaica Broilers Group, wherever we operate, the communities that we operate in. We look out for their best interests as best as we can, so this is part of that care that we give to our community members every year,” she explained.
Cargill continued that the work done by the company in Spring Village did not solely occur during the Yuletide season, pointing to other activities such as an Easter treat and an August back-to-school programme, which has a scholarship component for students from the primary to tertiary levels.
Additionally, through the company’s care programme, which is linked to the SDVF, individuals whose relatives have died and need assistance for burial are also aided.
“It gives us this sense of pride and accomplishment and great joy to be able to do that for our people,” Cargill said.
“Some of the elders have been persons who started with the company from way back and, you know, it’s good to be able to know that we’re able to share some joy with them during this season,” she added.
Randy Finnikin, executive director of the SVDF, told The Gleaner that this Christmas was particularly special for the community because, in addition to the treat, the foundation is pushing for more pre-teens and teenagers to get involved in community building.
“They usually don’t come out to the Christmas treat ... so we are pitching at them because since COVID, our youth empowerment programmes have not restarted and we’re having a social disconnect in the community. We are seeing our youngsters becoming dysfunctional. They are becoming self-centred; they are not collaborating. They are just not the typical youth we have grown accustomed to over the last 25 years,” he explained.
On Friday, 90 high school students were involved in a Christmas beautification community exercise.
“We’re using that as a carrot to data mine that group. We’re getting their names, their ages, their contact numbers, and yes, we’re giving them a Christmas pocket money for their work, but the bigger picture is that [this] will form the basis of the youth engagement for 2024,” he continued.
Finnikin further stated that the foundation has refined its community engagement strategy and has established six sectors within the community to ensure that no one is left behind as they focus more on small-group engagements.
He said that a youth corporation and various community sports leagues will be launched, hopefully by February 2024, while noting the importance of “targeting them (the youth) where they’re at so that they can be drafted in for scholarships [and] for academic support.