Joyful back-to-school for special needs students at Early Stimulation Plus


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Joyful back-to-school for special needs students at Early Stimulation Plus

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Joyful back-to-school for special needs students at Early Stimulation Plus

Kingston, Jamaica – Thursday 14th September 2017: Digicel Foundation returned last week to one of its favourite special needs partners, Early Stimulation Plus (ESP) Early Childhood Development Centre, to bring back-to-school joy.

 

The Foundation is responsible for the transformation of the institution, working to make it one of Jamaica’s best equipped special needs institutions.

 

Over 100 Jamaican-made Bresheh school bags were distributed to the staff and students of the Kingston-based Centre just in time for the start of the new school year.

 

ESP Principal, Antonica Gunter-Gayle, said she was thrilled by the practical support. “This has made the start of the school year that much more fun for our students,” said Mrs. Gunter-Gayle. “A school bag is normally a major item for children at the beginning of a school year. We are so grateful to the Digicel Foundation for their continued support which has transformed the lives of our students.”

 

Early Stimulation Plus is a component of the Early Stimulation Programme, which is an extension of the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities. The Programme has been providing critical assessment and early intervention for children with disabilities from birth to six years old for over thirty years, benefiting approximately 200,000 children with various types of special needs across the island.

 

“We are very pleased to source these bags from a great social enterprise like Bresheh, which already supports Jamaicans with special needs,” said Digicel Foundation Chairman Jean Lowrie-Chin, who assisted in the distribution. “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with the team at ESP and look forward to the continued success of the students for this new school year.”

 

Meanwhile Randy McLaren from Bresheh shared that his company was delighted to be a part of this initiative while and highlighted that his Bresheh has been employing persons with special needs and they continue to play a vital role in its daily operations. As our enterprise continues to grow we also plan to train all our staff in sign language to build on the team spirit and camaraderie even more.”

 

The ESP will be one of the five special needs beneficiaries of this year’s Digicel 5K Run/Walk for Special Needs. The other beneficiaries are the Jamaica Autism Support Association (JASA), Jamaica Association on Intellectual Disabilities (JAID), Jamaica Down’s Syndrome Foundation (JDSF) and Mustard Seed Community of Jacob’s Ladder.

 

The Digicel 5K Run/Walk for Special Needs takes place on Saturday October 7th at 7pm, starting from the company’s downtown headquarters on Ocean Boulevard. To register, participants can visit www.runningeventsja.com. Registration ends September 29, 2017. 

Joyful back-to-school for special needs students at Early Stimulation Plus