Corporate volunteers get to work in Kingston, St Andrew communities
Published:Saturday | May 24, 2025 | 12:08 AMMickalia Kington/Gleaner Writer
At the heart of the Cooreville Gardens Basic School Labour Day project was a vision of colour, mobility, and learning, which Sonia Hyman, chairman of the school board, says was brought to life with fresh coats of paint and vibrant designs.
Yesterday, on Labour Day, volunteers, corporate sponsors, and community leaders came together at the community’s basic school to transform the play area, giving the grounds a much-needed facelift.
“It enhances the aesthetic appearance of the school, especially as it relates to the jungle gym, where kids play twice a week. It’s more attractive,” said Hyman.
She also emphasised the deeper value of the initiative beyond beautification.
“[For] the kids, it is to help their mobility skills. [With] the colours or a pattern … they learn the colours, like red, yellow, blue. So, it’s also a learning experience, as well. So, for this year, we are concentrating on, you know, uplifting the colours, making it beautiful, even for the community to be able to see how well-kept the school is.”
The day focused on painting both the play area and the school walls. But Hyman also pointed out that the school has pressing infrastructural concerns.
“One of the major challenges is the grounds. As you notice, it’s huge. We want to do landscaping because when it rains, it puddles. I think that’s the biggest challenge.”
She shared that the school is working closely with the Ministry of Education to explore financial support and mentioned an upcoming proposal to the CHASE Fund for help in August. Thankfully, they already have one dedicated sponsor, Payday Express Financial Limited.
Payday Express is a licensed microcredit institution, incorporated in 2020, specialising in payday loans and offering salary deductible loans for government workers, private sector workers, as well as taxi loans.
Abdul Foster, executive director of the company, expressed his excitement about finally executing a Labour Day project while also providing paint to execute the project.
“The Labour Day project is something that we always wanted to do, but we made contributions to various institutions ... we see community giving back as a key part of our corporate social responsibility, so it’s a joy to actually be here to contribute towards the school, which is a staple of this community.”
As a newly instated sponsor, heading into their second month, Foster noted that Payday is already planning future contributions.
“We are sponsors of this school, so we are looking to be very much involved in this school specifically ... we’re going to allocate a lot more as it relates to outreach and sponsorship.”
Two things he hopes to do are to enhance the lawn, giving the school grounds a fresh and more inviting look and to provide the school with adequate technology such as tablets and Internet service for a more efficient and child-friendly learning experience.
ALL HANDS ON DECK
Meanwhile, the JN Circle, the community outreach arm of the JN Group, was present and hands-on.
Speaking with The Gleaner, Paril Ellington, member relations officer, explained that members decide which projects to support.
“They have full autonomy with the planning. We help to guide them ... we work in tandem with the JN Foundation ... Every year we have the grant proposal cycle, where our Circle members are given the opportunity to identify a project that they’re passionate about, and we would give them up to $1.5 million per project.”
Projects have spanned from school water tanks to hospital donations, and the support continues to grow.
These efforts have included support for institutions, such as the Port Maria Hospital and several schools.
“We did Paul Island Primary in Westmoreland. We did Candle in the Dark in Mandeville. We did Fern Gully High School where we donated pumps and a tank for them to help them with their gardening and their supplies.”
Reflecting on how initiatives, such as this, align with JN Circle’s mission, she said, “It’s just us reaching out to the younger ones and giving back to the community. Showing that JN does not only care about you as a member … We’re more than that. We’re a community, we’re a family.”
Ultimately, she hopes that these efforts will bring people closer to the JN brand and foster greater unity islandwide.
“Hopefully, that will bring persons to recognise JN. Bring JN Circle together. Bring the community together. It’s all about community building.”
She also notes that this provides the school with more exposure and opens the institution up to positive attention that might lead to getting help with some of the challenges they face there.
Cooreville Gardens Basic School’s Labour Day project was only the first step toward building a better environment for children to learn and play as plans of pouring into the school are already in motion.