Students Receive Educational Supplies from Pollyanna Project
By: , August 28, 2024
Photo: Contributed
Executive Director, Pollyanna Project, Donna Stewart Moore (fifth right), with some of the students who recently got educational support from the organisation, at an event held at the Lions Civic Centre in Old Harbour, St. Catherine.
Photo: Contributed
Executive Director, Pollyanna Project, Donna Stewart Moore (left), speaks at the Birnamwood Primary School in Portland, where the group refurbished the institution’s library, equipped it with books, and provided educational support for 60 students. Pictured at right is Principal of the school, Michele-Ann Smith Brimm.
Photo: Contributed
Principal of the Birnamwood Primary School in Portland, Michele-Ann Smith Brimm (centre), cuts the ribbon for the refurbished and equipped library at the school, done by the Pollyanna Project recently. Pictured at left is Director with the group, Darnell Moore Gordon, and Executive Director of the organisation, Donna Stewart Moore (right).The Full Story
More than 100 students in St. Catherine and Portland have received educational supplies, including laptops, from the philanthropic group Pollyanna Project, at a cost of $15 million.
In Old Harbour, St. Catherine, 43 students have received school bags and key educational items and 10 of them got laptops, sponsored by the United States (US)-based Brooklyn Nets. In Portland, 60 students got support from the group.
As part of their mission to provide humanitarian relief for children in need, by way of donating educational supplies, the organisation refurbished the library at the Birnamwood Primary School in Portland and equipped it with more than 2,000 books.
Teacher at Davis Primary School, Old Harbour, Nicholas Dillion, said great needs exist at the institution, and “I was pleased to see how satisfied the parents were with the gesture”.
“They were really elated, and the school is grateful, and the parents and the students are appreciative for the support,” the teacher said.
Principal of Birnamwood Primary School, Michele-Ann Smith Brimm, said the gesture from the group brought blessings to the school, with students getting laptops and other educational gifts.
“Our library is now outfitted with very wonderful, well-kept books, and we are really grateful for this gesture. We are now in a position to resume a book loan programme, where students can come and choose books of their preference, read and return them at the end of the week,” the Principal said.
Executive Director of Pollyanna Project, Donna Stewart Moore, who resides in the United States, told JIS News that, since 1994, they have been on a drive to show kindness and promote hope in her homeland.
She said the Portland event was a day of fun for the parents and the students, adding that the Principal was gifted with a laptop, “because I believe she has in her heart the interest of the students”.
For Old Harbour, where she once lived, she and her members want students to be “ready” for the first day of school.
She added that during her time growing up in Jamaica, there were people who supported her growth, and “gave me hope, and I want my organisation to be that to others”.
Meanwhile, President of the Birnamwood Primary School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Tashika Lowe, said seeing the support provided to the students, “I was so emotional and excited – everything in one”.
“The school needs that library. It is good for the school, as students will now access various learning resources from the Internet and have the books at their disposal and will no longer have to travel the 10-mile journey to Buff Bay to access a library,” she said.