Grace Foods hosts holiday treat for New Jersey students

Grace Foods hosted a holiday treat for 50 middle- and high-school students in East Orange, New Jersey. The holiday treat took place at the historic building in East Orange that was previously owned by the prominent Vanderbilt family.

Grace Foods hosted the holiday treat in keeping with its company policy of giving back to communities where it does business. This year, East Orange was chosen because 50 per cent of the city’s residents are of Caribbean descent.

“Over the past 18 months, some families have been going through great stress to make ends meet,” Shelton Rose, national business development manager at Grace Foods USA, told The Gleaner.

“Grace has been donating to churches, food banks, soup kitchens and to first responders on an ongoing basis. We also believe in supporting our own community and right now we want to bring holiday cheer to a number of students and their parents in one of our very productive regions that has helped to be tremendously successful over the past 100 years. The hope is that this gesture will make Christmas a little brighter,” he continued.

The participating middle- and high-school students are from the Dionne Warwick and the Whitney Houston schools, as well as from two other area schools in Essex County.

The students and one parent will be treated to a delicious meal of signature Jamaican dishes prepared by area chefs.

Grace Foods will also provide prizes for five outstanding high achievers among the schools. Prizes will be presented by Abdul R. Saleem Hasan, superintendent of schools for the East Orange School District.

Local reggae artistes in New Jersey will provide entertainment, and the students themselves will perform a few Christmas items.

The Christmas treat follows on a television feature that was broadcast this week on PIX 11 in the New York tri-state region where Grace and Bellyful Restaurant, a Jamaican eatery in Brooklyn, tantalised New Yorkers with an array of Jamaican dishes.

Dave Rodney