The American Friends of Jamaica, Inc. (AFJ) continues to make an impact in Jamaica by strategically connecting resources from North America with the island. AFJ President, Wendy Hart states, “We are proud of the grants that the AFJ has made this year: Impactful social intervention programs that focus on education, training and violence reduction and critically needed medical equipment across the country.”
This year, the AFJ received 85 applications for discretionary grants. Discretionary grants and donor-direct grant awards of U$762,546.16 (JA$102.9 million) were presented during the Official Grant Ceremony. For the period of April 2018 to March 2019, over US$ 611k (JA$77.9 million) was distributed by the AFJ’s worthy programs in Jamaica.
The full list of grants to be presented during the 2018-2019 grant cycle are Adult Learning Centres of Jamaica, Alpha Boy’s School, Bloom Early Childhood Center of Excellence Jamaica, Bull Savannah Primary School, Chapelton Hospital, Child Resiliency, Downtown Kingston Music Theatre, Early Childhood Commission, Fight for Peace International, Friends of Hopewell, Jamaica Association for the Deaf, Jamaica Cancer Society, Jamaica College Foundation, JASY, JSPCA, Kingston Public Hospital, Open Arms Development Centre, Pocket Rocket Foundation, RISE Life Management Services, Sandals Foundation, Sanmerna Foundation, Seaward Primary & Junior High School, SEE International, Southern Basketball Conference, Spring Garden Primary School, St. Andrew Settlement, UWI – CASSE, UWI – Cobb Scholarship, UWI – Cooper Scholarship, UWI – Holden Scholarship, UWI – Ralph & Ricky Lauren Foundation Scholarship, We Care FPGH Ltd., Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation.
The AFJ’s grantmaking cycle begins in November and grantees are selected once per year. The AFJ is able to award grants from proceeds raised from annual fundraisers in New York and Miami, private foundations, corporate partnerships and donor direct contributions.
The AFJ Board of Directors will travel to Jamaica for the Grant Ceremony and a series of outreach projects in Kingston on April 14th to April 16th. While on the island, the Directors will participate in the Adolescent Mother’s Symposium at the Jamaica Conference Center, will officiate a presentation of bed linen at Kingston Public Hospital and will visit one of last year’s grantees, St. Joseph’s School.
Discretionary Grants
| Bloom Early Childhood Ctr of Excellence JA | $ 5,000.00 | Bloom Early Childhood Centre of Excellence Jamaica provides early childhood development services for children, parents, in-service and pre-service teachers |
| Chapelton Hospital | $ 500,000.00 | Chapelton Hospital is set to benefit from major expansion and upgrade at a cost of US$1 million |
| Downtown Kingston Music Theatre | $ 10,000.00 | Downtown Kingston Music Theatre is a social intervention programme that utilizes musical theatre to engage students ages 12-18 who live and attend school in downtown Kingston |
| Early Childhood Commission | $ 10,000.00 | Early Childhood Commission provides quality early childhood programmes and services which provide equity and access for children within healthy, safe and nurturing environments |
| JASY | $ 2,500.00 | Jamaica Advantage Thru Sports for Youth (JASY) a week-long sports training summer camp at the University of Technology for 140 10-15 year old Jamaican Youth. |
| Open Arms Development Centre | $ 26,000.00 | Open Arms Development Centre strives to feed, clothe, shelter, care for, and rehabilitate the homeless so that they are empowered to re-enter society and sustain themselves |
| RISE Life Management Services | $ 20,000.00 | RISE Life Management provide, vocational and health-related services for at-risk populations, including those suffering from addictive disorders, in order to facilitate healthy, fulfilling and productive lifestyle choices |
| Sandals Foundation | $ 15,000.00 | Sandals Foundation’s Lindamood-Bell Project aims to train teachers and local instructional leaders to be capable of detecting students with learning challenges |
| Sanmerna Foundation | $ 6,500.00 | Sanmerna Foundation improves the quality of life of inner-city youth and the elderly through education, health and sports |
| Seaward Primary & Junior High School | $ 20,000.00 | Seaward Primary & Junior High School provides a skills training programme for parents in an effort to improve parenting skills. |
| SEE International | $ 9,000.00 | SEE International bring medical volunteers and partners together to provide essential and transformative eye care, around the world and right here in Jamaica. |
| Southern Basketball Conference | $ 4,500.00 | Southern Basketball Conference provides basketball, life skills and behavioral modification. |
| Spring Garden Primary School | $ 1,000.00 | Spring Garden Primary School caters to the holistic development of the child and wishes to create an outdoor learning environment for teachers and students. |
| St. Andrew Settlement | $ 18,000.00 | St. Andrew Settlement aims to aid in the development of the community of Majesty Gardens through activities, skills training, health care and environmental awareness to build a healthy and sustainable community. |
| UWI – CASSE | $ 14,000.00 | The CASSE Department at the CHASE-Carnegie Skills Laboratory at UWI Mona aims to develop a sustainable centre for the acquisition of surgical and other technical skills |
Donor-Directed Grants
| Adult Learning Centre | $ 50.00 | Adult Learning Centre promotes and advances adult literacy in Jamaica by way of academic programmes and initiatives |
| Alpha Boy’s School | $ 4,850.00 | Alpha Boy’s School improves and enriches lives through education, training, values formation and employment so that youth may become disciplined and contributing members of society |
| Bull Savannah Primary School | $ 6,000.00 | Bull Savannah Primary School is located in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica dedicated to providing technology advancement to primary students in Jamaica |
| Child Resiliency | $ 27,165.00 | Child Resiliency brings together Government and Non-governmental organizations and persons working to reduce the incidence and impact of violence on community and national life |
| Fight for Peace International | $ 10,000.00 | Fight for Peace (FFP) is a global youth development organization that reduces youth violence |
| Friends of Hopewell | $ 9,850.00 | Friends of Hopewell has computer skills development program for children and adults at Bethel Primary and Junior High School and Hanover Homecoming Ltd Community Office. |
| Jamaica Association for the Deaf | $ 970.00 | Jamaica Association for the Deaf provides support to increase the quality of life for the deaf and hard-of-Hearing community in Jamaica |
| Jamaica Cancer Society | $ 970.00 | Jamaica Cancer Society strives to eliminate cancer as a major health problem in Jamaica |
| Jamaica College Foundation | $ 4,850.00 | Jamaica College Foundation aims to catalyze the transformation into and the maintenance of |
| JSPCA | $ 970.00 | Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (JSPCA) has been working in Jamaica for more than a hundred years, to protect animals from cruelty, neglect, injury and abandonment, and to defend and promote animal rights. |
| Kingston Public Hospital | $ 300.00 | Kingston Public Hospital provides service by qualified, efficient, and highly motivated work teams. |
| Pocket Rocket Foundation | $ 970.00 | Pocket Rocket Foundation creates lasting change in the lives of student athletes and children in children’s homes across Jamaica by providing academic scholarships and other assistance |
| UWI – Cobb Scholarship | $ 1,268.51 | Support education at the tertiary level |
| UWI – Cooper | $ 1,466.85 | Support education at the tertiary level |
| UWI – Holden | $ 1,215.80 | Support education at the tertiary level |
| UWI – Ralph & Ricky Lauren Foundation | $ 4,850.00 | Support education at the tertiary level |
