Gurneys Mount Primary School
Photos of Gurneys Mount Primary School Computer Lab Project.
The lab, Play during lunch break and the Ribbon cutting to new Computer Lab!
Hanover Charities Renovated Soup Kitchen
Hanover Charities Renovated Soup Kitchen Re-Opens and is Re-named for Founding Member Cecile Clare
February 2012 – Newely Named,The Cecile Clare Kitchen of Love Re-Opens
The newly renovated Hanover Charities soup kitchen in Lucea has re-opened and is now called The Cecile Clare Kitchen of Love.
The Renovation cost JAS1.5 Million Dollars and the funds were made available entirely through donations raised at the 2011 Annual Sugar Cane Ball. The work includes an extension, making the area much lighter, welcoming and is now 500 square, a new roof, tiled floors, new chairs, tables and utensils.
Working with Food for the Poor, who donate goods, Hanover Charities funds 90% of the running of the Soup Kitchen with an annual donation of JAS$1.4 million dollars.
Currently the kitchen feeds between 500-700 people every Tuesday. However, with the new renovation the Hanover Charities Committee and the Hanover Ministers Fraternal, lead by the Chairman Reverend Clarke, who runs the Soup Kitchen, they are hoping to open it twice a week. Food is also taken into the surrounding communities to feed the sick, homeless and elderly in the area who cannot make it to the kitchen.
Along with the Rev’s Crossman, Allan and Clarke and other ministers who organize the running of the kitchen, there are 10 dedicated and tireless volunteers, who leveling prepare the meal – Merle Thompson, Ardis Morris, Iris Johnson, Jasmine Chambers, Daisy Crooks, Paulette Phillips, Erica Henderson, Grace Smart, Ida Bucknor and Hanover Charities Board Member, Dorothy Harker.
Katrin Casserly, chair of Hanover Charities says: “The newly named Kitchen of Love is named after Cecile Clare, a founding and very active member of Hanover Charities and a force behind the kitchen itself. Ms Clare suffered a stoke 3 years ago and we the board members of Hanover Charities felt it fitting to re-name the kitchen after someone who had been so inspiring over the years with her contribution to charity”.
Hanover Charities is now the largest charitable organization in Western Jamaica and in the past 10 years alone has raised over USD$1.4 million dollars. The proceeds mainly come from the annual Sugar Cane Ball held at Round Hill Hotel every February.
The Sugar Cane Ball is now celebrating its 55th Anniversary. The theme this year is Shipwrecked with the dress code calling for Pirate Attire and will be held on Saturday 18. Tickets for the event and the fabulous Raffle Tickets (which include a USD$5000 spending spree at Ralph Lauren) are available at Round Hill Hotel.
This year’s fundraising festivities also start on Wednesday, February 15, Round Hill Hotel at 6:30 p.m. with an Art Exhibit and sale of work by Louis Ryan, who has had shows in London and Geneva. However, his works for this event are specifically Jamaican inspired and relevant to the Sugar Cane Ball as his wife comes from Hanover and he was married in the Seaford Town Church.
30% of sales from the Art Show go to Hanover Charities.
The Soup Kitchen Building
Hanover Charities Wins
Hanover Charities Wins – 2012 Nation Builder Award.
The Nation Builder Awards were established to recognize those African Americans who have distinguished themselves through lifelong service and dedication to the enfranchisement and inclusion of Americans of African descent into the national body of politics.
December 2012 – HANOVER CHARITIES NAMED A RECIPIENT OF NCB NATION BUILDERS AWARD
December 2012, Kingston, Jamaica: Hanover Charities, the 55 year old foundation based in Western Jamaica has been recognized by the NCB Nation Builder Award Scheme with its winning of the Regional Nation Builders Award for Impact.
Speaking from the charity’s office in Hopewell, Hanover, Chairperson for Hanover Charities, Mrs. Katrin Casserly comments: “This is a great honour and acknowledgement of the efforts of not just Hanover Charities but for all the loyal donors and volunteers that are such a large part of who we are”.
The NCB Nation Builder Awards highlights outstanding entrepreneurial performance and sound operational practices, with strong emphasis on contribution to community development.
Awardees are judged on recent financial performance, strategic direction, product or service innovation as well as leadership in community development.
In the last 10 years alone, Hanover Charities has raised more than USD$ 1,400,000.00.
Explains Casserly: “Everyone who works with our Charity is a volunteer so these funds go directly towards fulfilling the mission statement “to improve the education and health of the citizens of Hanover Parish”. This includes feeding over 700 elderly, ill and indigent citizens each week from the Charities’ newly renovated and renamed “Cecile Clare Kitchen of Love” in Lucea”.
With an emphasis on the youth of the west – other areas the Charity supports are facilities, clinics, institutions and projects that provide health care, as well as organizations that promote positive values and education for children.
The Morris-Watkins Memorial Scholarship, set up by the Charity 12 years ago to honour two former and formidable Chairwomen, provides financial aid and scholarships to between 35-40 promising tertiary level Students annually.
The main fundraising event for Hanover Charities is the Sugar Cane Ball. Last year’s themed Ball, Pirates of the Caribbean, raised USD$136,000 in one night. This years fundraising ball is being held on February 16, 2013 at Round Hill Hotel and Villas and this year’s original theme is Studio 54.