Overjoyed that it has been selected as the cause to benefit from this year’s National Leadership Prayer Breakfast (NLPB), which takes place tomorrow (January 20), The Clifton Boys’ Home will be dedicating the generous donation to aid in strengthening and furthering its wards’ education.

Founded in 1961, the Westmoreland-located boys’ home was built to provide security and emotional stability for young males age 6 and 17 years old.

The home, gutted by fire in 2015, was rebuilt and now houses up to 40 boys and a few live-in staff. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, about half that number currently reside at the home.

Vincent Guthrie, chairman of The Boys’ Home, told Our Today that children are placed there by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) through the Fit Person Order or through instructions from the Court.

The NLPB, which is hosted annually on the third Thursday of January, is set to get under way tomorrow (January 20), where leaders present will make contributions toward the donation to be presented to the Clifton Boy’s Home.

Gurthrie, who has always been an avid viewer of the prayer breakfast over the years, explained how thrilled both he and his team were, when they learned that the Clifton Boys’ Home was selected as the NLPB’s project for 2022.

“When we heard that Clifton was selected… it was really kind of a joyful experience. We said ‘WHAT?!’ …We’re really delighted that we were considered in the first place… and the fact that we are selected, that is the icing on the cake.”

Guthrie also shared that, for the boys with whom he got the opportunity to speak, they expressed how delighted they were by the news as well.

With many of the boys coming to the home operating below their standard grade level, the institution has made it its duty to ensure their academical advancement.

“We have consistently emphasised education as a pillar for upward mobility for the boys,” he explained.

The funds garnered from the prayer breakfast will be used as part of an ongoing project to aid in the boys’ academic development.

“What we are trying to do is engage some specialist to give makeup lessons for the boys. The project started off evaluating their… level of learning.

“So what we have done is to first of all to do an assessment and we’re rightly preparing a profile for each boy. So it is an intervention plan that is being developed for each boy because majority of them are well below grade level,” the chairman stated.

These interventions will take place both physically and online with each intervention taking four to six months.

The boys’ home, which has obtained a number of generous donations over the years, recently received 20 desktops from J. Wray and Nephew in association with the Joy Spence Foundation to aid in the boys’ online learning.

Reiterating his gratitude, the chairman said he was hopeful for the success of the prayer breakfast for the sake of the nation.

“We pray that this will be a very successful event. We are hoping for the nation’s sake, that it will be a successful event and… we are happy that we will be benefiting from the proceeds of the function which we will account for and use for the purpose described. We are certain that Clifton will be the better for it.”

With the NLPB committee’s decision to significantly scale back on the event, holding only a maximum of 80 guests, only one member of the Boys’ home board will be able to attend the physical event.

Members of staff, other members of the board and the boys who will not be attending face-to-face classes on the day of the prayer breakfast, will join in on the event virtually.