Select Your Country
- Digicel joins Jamaica National for community workday
Scores of staff volunteers from Digicel and the Jamaica National Building Society united on Saturday November 20, 2010 and exercised their painting skills at the new Community Resource Centre at The Source Savanna-La-Mar in Westmoreland. They showed their full support of the work day hosted by JNBS Foundation and Digicel Foundation, through their partnership to bring access to services and technology to the parish of Westmoreland.
Eleen Rankine, Administrator of Digicel Foundation, explained why the initiative was important to Digicel staff members; “Digicel has over 1200 staff members islandwide and volunteerism is a big part of who they are. At the Foundation, we are always on the lookout as to how and when we can get the staff members actively involved in our projects and The Source Savanna-La-Mar was a perfect opportunity for our staff members to integrate themselves with residents from four volatile communities within Savanna-La-Mar.”
“It means a lot to the community members that we were able to come out to join hands and hearts with them in painting the new building,” commented Virginia Turner, Project Manager of Rural Development for JNBS Foundation. “All the workers that have been on the site are from all four beneficiary communities, and to have staff members from the JN Group and Digicel journey to this part of the island to show commaderie and unity, really means a lot to the parish of Westmoreland.”
Other organisations such as the Community Security and Justice Programme, Social Development Commission and the Y-Mennettes also participated in the work day.
Ground was broken for the construction of The Source Savanna-La-Mar six months ago. It will be the largest Community Resource Centre completed by the JNBS Foundation and features an auditorium (for distance learning for Universities and community meetings), four business incubation units available for short-term lease, a healthy lifestyle café, multi-purpose courts and a recording studio.
“The goal of The Source Savanna-La-Mar is to increase the level of employment within these communities, increase access to business incubation and entrepreneurial and business support services, increase entrepreneurship, access to lifelong learning and education and finally, we want to increase access to information and computer technology,” said Turner.
