Children Receive School Supplies from Tameka Hill Foundation

Scores of children and some parents from across the island have benefited from back-to-school supplies and sessions on parenting skills at two treats organised by the Tameka Hill Foundation.

The gifts to 175 students included school bags and other educational items, while the sessions for the parents included topics such as ‘How to raise children’ and ‘Helping your child to become literate’.

There were also health checks for the children and other persons.

The first treat was held on August 10 at the Pentecostal City Mission Church in Brown’s Town, St. Ann, while the other was held on August 14 at the Pentecostal City Mission Church Inc. in Mount Ogle, St. Andrew.

Head of the Foundation, Tameka Hill, told JIS News that the education outreach was done at a cost of more than $300,000, adding that she gets the “greatest joy” when she sees happiness on the faces of children after they receive their gifts.

“It is just the joy and fulfilment of seeing how happy it makes them. Parents coming up to you, perhaps a year later, to say, ‘you don’t know what you did for me’, and how much the help was of great value to them,” she said.

Miss Hill, a former Youth Ambassador for Jamaica, said the backpacks that the Foundation gives to children have been “very beneficial” to a lot of parents, as they are costly.

“It is because of the interest in what I do, and love, that I have friends and family members who support my vision, and they donate to the cause. All of this could not happen without their help and their support,” she added.

Miss Hill noted that a big part of the Foundation’s mission is to promote reading, because it is the “building block for all success”.

For her part, Assistant Pastor at the Pentecostal City Mission Church Inc, in Mount Ogle, St. Andrew, the Reverend Patricia Smith, said the community welcomed the treat that was held recently at the church, and while they usually have “some little things, this was a big thing. Parents appreciate it, and the community benefited”.

Head of the Pentecostal City Mission Church in Brown’s Town, St. Ann, the Reverend Havar Hunter, who hosted the other treat, said “it was an awesome gesture,

“We are all excited about it, as it lifts the community, and we are grateful for that,” he said.