INDUSTRIAL STOVE DONATED TO 4-H CLUBS FOR TRAINING PROGRAMME

The Jamaica 4-H Clubs has received an industrial stove valued at just under $200,000, donated by JAMALCo for a Food Preparation and Floral Arrangement training programme.

The stove was officially handed over on January 9 at the Denbigh 4-H Centre in Clarendon, where the training is conducted.

Accepting the donation, Executive Director of the 4-H Clubs, Lenworth Fulton expressed his gratitude for the gift. “We thank JAMALCo for their good gift…we thank them for this gift of developing Jamaica,” he said.

Pamela White, Community Development Administrator at JAMALCo, described the donation as a partnership venture.

“The company has invested just under J$200,000 in this industrial stove, but greater still, we are investing in the lives of many Jamaican men and women who will be doing well in the culinary arts,” she said.

Giving an overview of the training programme, Sylvia Porteous, Home Economics Training Co-ordinator, explained that it was implemented in February 2002, and has been successful in training 30 persons who have been certified by the National Council on Technical Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET).

She said that the aim of the programme was to empower young people with life-coping and culinary skills in food preparation, especially for the Hospitality industry.

The course covers three main areas, including general catering, cake and pastry preparation and floral arrangement. Entrepreneurial skills are also taught to assist trainees to start income generating projects.