The Scotiabank Jamaica Foundation has donated J$3 million to three Labour Day projects geared towards infrastructure redevelopment and the fostering of community resilience.

The projects are being undertaken in collaboration with the United Way of Jamaica and Food for the Poor Jamaica and will be spread across three parishes.

Under the United Way of Jamaica Labour for Learning Project, First Born Basic School in St Catherine and Montego Bay Infant School in St James will be renovated to provide safer, more conducive learning spaces, particularly for children with special needs. The partnership with United Way of Jamaica is part of Scotiabank’s ongoing commitment to invest in education and youth development, especially for vulnerable children. Scotiabank also fully funded the construction of a greenhouse at the Osborne Store Primary and Infant School in southwestern Clarendon via Food for the Poor.

The greenhouse project will complement the school’s efforts to support vulnerable students who constitute approximately half its population.

Scotiabank’s partnership with local charity Food for the Poor Jamaica seeks to “future-proof” Osborne Store Primary and Infant School to boost its ability to support its students, who live in predominantly low-income communities such as Four Paths, Toll Gate, Bucknor, Gravel Hill, and Ebony Park.

 Produce from the greenhouse will support the school’s independent feeding programme that provides breakfast and lunch for at least 50 students daily.