Staff WriterAs Team Jamaica Bickle (TJB) prepares to hand over twenty Automated External Defibrillators (AEDS) to high schools in Western Jamaica, the organization is lauding Grace Kennedy and the S Hotel for their support of the program. Earlier this year Group CEO of Grace Kennedy, Senator Don Wehby announced the company’s intention to team up with TJB in its Defibrillator Program in an effort to ensure that the machines are more widely available across the island. That plan is now reality. Grace Kennedy has donated five AED Units to the upcoming presentation and training exercise which will take place on Tuesday July 16, 2019 (9am-2pm) at the S Hotel located on Jimmy Cliff Boulevard in Montego Bay.
Some 60 staff of the recipient schools will be trained.
“It really has been our honour to partner with Team Jamaica Bickle in this way. Our relationship with TJB goes back many years, and any initiative such as this one that supports our young athletes in a life-saving way is good for them, good for Jamaica, and therefore good for GraceKennedy. As a company passionate about our young people in general, our young athletes and their health, well-being and success, we are proud to be able to play a role in contributing to those positive outcomes in their lives,” said GraceKennedy Group CEO, Senator Don Wehby.
Montego Bay’s Ultimate Trendsetting Hotspot the S Hotel, will roll out the Red Carpet and its world-class hospitality for the training session, providing conference room facilities, accommodation, coffee break and lunch. The “boutique-styled” hotel which opened to wide acclaim earlier this year, is the latest addition to the tourism landscape in the island’s second city.
“S Hotel Jamaica in Montego Bay is proud to support Team Jamaica Bickle by hosting its presentation of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to 20 High Schools, on July 16, 2019. The S Hotel team understands the importance of community and providing resources and life-saving equipment to our country’s young adults to participate in athletic and sports programs. We are stronger together and wish the organization the best in its endeavors,” it said in its statement.
Irwine Clare, Snr. Chairman of TJB spoke of the value of the alliances. “The involvement of Grace Kennedy and the S Hotel as supporters in this endeavor is critical to the partnerships that are so valuable in attaining our objective. It’s a win-win. It creates awareness whilst protecting the athletes’ welfare. On a broader perspective it fosters good diaspora partnerships.”
Expected to be in attendance are, His Worship The Mayor, Councillor Homer Davis, Mayor of Montego Bay; Keith Wellington, ISSA President; from the Ministry of Education, Youth & Information, Dr. Grace McClean, Permanent Secretary, and Elton Johnson Education Officer, Physical Education; Janet Silvera, President, Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI),and Frank James & Grace Burnett, Grace Kennedy Executives. Grace Kennedy has donated five of the units being presented to schools.
The beneficiary schools are Anchovy High , Black River High, Cambridge High, Grange Hill High, Irwin High, Lewisville High, Little London High, Maggotty High, Maldon High, Manchester High, Maud McLeod High, Merlene Ottey High, Munro College, Muschett High, Nain High, Newell High, Roger Clarke High, Troy High, Belmont Academy, and Knockalva High.
Other Sponsors of this year’s event are VP Records, African-American Baptist Church of PA and New York Life Insurance Company. [i]
Please visit www.teamjamaicabickle.org or call 718.523.2861 for more information.
About Team Jamaica Bickle
Team Jamaica Bickle, Inc. (TJB) is a not-for-profit corporation based in New York State. The organization was formed in 1994 and was later designated a 501(c)(3) organization. TJB was founded by the current CEO Irwine G.
Clare Snr. The affiliated TJB-Philadelphia Organizing Committee was simultaneously formed. TJB’s mission is embodied in the motto, ‘Our Athletes, Our Ambassadors’. Team Jamaica Bickle, Inc. has supported athletes and athletic programs for the past 25 years. Currently, TJB services extend to a delegation of athletes, coaches and volunteers from Jamaica, other Caribbean countries(which includes Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Guyana), as well as from the USA. In 1999, Team Jamaica Bickle became the first Jamaican organization to be a participating sponsor at the Penn Relays. As a result, the Jamaican flag became the first foreign-nation’s flag to be flown at the Penn Relays, a distinction unmatched. Over the years, TJB has received several proclamations and awards from numerous local and national entities.
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