‘It’s more than a drop in the bucket’ –DSP grateful for donations from Adventist community
Published:Wednesday | October 28, 2015 | 10:04 AMTamara Bailey
MANDEVILLE, Manchester:
In dire need, the police at the Mandeville Police Station graciously welcomed the donations of appliances, along with funding and labour, for building expansion from members of the Seventh-day Adventist community on Sunday.
As part of their 125th anniversary celebration as a church in the island, Everett Brown, president of the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said it is important that the church gives back to the community, and particularly those who serve the citizens of this country.
"...We felt we needed to touch the lives of a particular group of people, and the police having served us well, we thought we would partner with them and see how best we could make their working environment more conducive in addressing the crime problem we have in Jamaica," Brown told Rural Xpress.
Renovations done
After assessing the needs of the station, it was only appropriate for the station to have the female's bathroom retrofitted, an expansion of the waiting area and traffic office, along with a donation of two microwaves and three fans.
"The needs are monumental, but the Adventist society has chipped in and it is certainly a bucket full; it's more than a drop in the bucket ... they didn't have to do it so whatever they are doing, we must appreciate it, and highly so too ... it's a significant contribution and we certainly appreciate it," said Melvin Kerr, deputy superintendent of police (DSP).
With the outreach project needing long-term attention, Brown is looking forward to what the partnership of the church organisation and the police can further yield.
"We want to increase the capacity of the police force in terms of their human resources, so we are offering three four-year scholarships tenable at Northern Caribbean University come September 2016, in the area of IT, one in the area of behavioural science and one in the area of the health science. We believe if we increase the capacity of the human resource, they would be better able to function as a unit," he said.
In addition, the union conference will be providing counselling for police personnel who are grieving and/or going through depression.