Dr. Chang Welcomes LASCO Chin Foundation to Help Vulnerable Youth

Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, has hailed the establishment of the LASCO Chin Foundation, which will work with the police in engaging vulnerable youth in order to steer them away from crime.

He said that the Government welcomes partnerships that will help to curtail crime and violence in the society.

Mr. Chang said for the last 18 years, LASCO has spent millions to award police officers, teachers and nurses, and this latest initiative “will not only continue to motivate and transform the lives of those involved but have a spillover effect on the entire nation”.

He was speaking at the LASCO/Jamaica Constabulary Force’s 2018/2019 Police Officer of the Year awards ceremony at The Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston on Tuesday (May 8), where Founder and Executive Chairman, LASCO Affiliated Companies, Lascelles Chin, announced the launch of the foundation.

“Starting June 1, the LASCO Chin Foundation will begin a process of deepening our long-established support for the police by providing a multifaceted, sustainable approach to addressing crime, one individual at a time,” he said.

Mr. Chin explained that the body will work with the police in helping youth who are at risk of becoming involved in crime.

“If we target these at-risk youth in their communities and provide them with long-term professional support, we can make the [dent] in the crime problem,” he contended.

He said that details of the foundation’s work will be announced in the coming weeks.

Vice President for Community Service and Development at the University of Technology (UTech), Professor Rosalea Hamilton, will serve as the body’s Executive Director.

Professor Hamilton is a Non-Executive Director at LASCO Manufacturing Limited.

“She takes to this position a deep passion for the redemption, reformation and inclusion of at-risk youth in society, along with her sound academic analytical expertise and extensive experience with that sector,” Mr. Chin said.

He is calling for partnerships with the new foundation and the police in reducing crime and providing better opportunities for the nation’s youth.

“We deserve a crime-free society, and we can help to create that society one child at a time, one community at a time,” he said.