Charities to Benefit from Mandeville Art Fair

Six charities in Manchester and St. Elizabeth are to benefit from the Mandeville art fair, which was held recently at the Mount Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School in the town.
The annual event, now in its 17th year, is organised by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mandeville.
Art fair committee member, Marcia Chai Chong, told JIS News that the idea for the event “came from a small group of us, who thought we needed to do something unique in Mandeville to raise funds for the charities of the Mandeville Catholic Church as we had just been formed into a Diocese at the time.”
She explained that all the art pieces for the fair are submitted by artists and “we put our mark-up on it and all the proceeds go to charity.”
Staged over three days, the annual event includes a craft and plant sale, and a fun day for children on the final day. “So what we have tried to do is just have it as a fun event as well as to raise funds for our charities,” Ms. Chai Chong, said.
The six charities to benefit from the fair are: Catholic College of Mandeville, a tertiary institution that offers programmes in education, including teacher training at the primary level; Our Lady of Hope Children’s Home in Black River, which is home to 32 children; Mary Help of Christians Home in Balaclava for the indigent and elderly; St. John Bosco Boys’ Home located in Hatfield, which houses 160 abandoned, neglected, abused and delinquent boys between the ages of 6-18 years old; the Holy Spirit Catholic Outreach Programme, which maintains an educational outreach programme in the Maggotty community; and St. Vincent Strambi High School, a private educational institution in Bull Savanna.
Ms. Chai Chong said that the organisers have had to change venues over the years to accommodate large crowds and Mount Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School is the fourth venue in 17 years.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mandeville serves the needs of residents of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.