Vivian Crawford and members of the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation joined The Gleaner at the newspaper's North Street, Kingston, office yesterday to accept their 2011 Honour awards for outstanding service to Jamaica.
Crawford was honoured in the category of arts and culture for his role in the preservation and promotion of Jamaica's indigenous cultural expressions.
Grace and Staff earned the award for voluntary service, for its support of community development and the care of the less fortunate.
Crawford, during a luncheon at North Street, was all smiles in accepting his award.
"This is generosity at its highest. Christmas in October," he beamed.
"I must express my everlasting gratitude and thanks to The Gleaner Company for this never-to-be forgotten award. May you grow and grow from strength to strength. I know that your continuity to nation building will be of immense benefit to Jamaica."
Crawford, who has been the executive director of the Institute of Jamaica for the past 11 years, is a leading expert on Jamaican culture.
Accepting on behalf of Grace and Staff, chairman James Moss-Solomon thanked the directors of The Gleaner and the selection committee for considering his foundation worthy of such an honour.
"We are extremely grateful on behalf of the many thousands of staff members of GraceKennedy who for the last 32 years have contributed voluntarily from their salaries to make this foundation a success," noted Moss-Solomon.
Transforming the inner city
Through staff donations matched by the company and support from external organisations, Grace and Staff has transformed the lives of more than 2,000 students from inner-city communities who needed an opportunity to realise their dreams. Additionally, the foundation is involved in a number of social and economic transformation projects in inner-city communities bordering the company's offices.
Since 1979, The Gleaner Honour Awards has been recognising the initiative, accomplishment and courage of individuals or organisations that have contributed significantly to improving quality of life in Jamaica, whether in arts and culture, public service, sports, education, science and technology, health and wellness, entertainment, voluntary service or business. The Man of the Year is also selected during a gala luncheon.
Karin Cooper, The Gleaner's business development and marketing manager, said this year 151 nominations were received and, on October 6, the selection committee awarded a nominee from each category, except education.
"Today we honour stalwarts in these two areas of endeavour through our 2011 awards. These recipients have joined a long list of distinguished persons and organisations whose achievements have been recognised through this programme," stated Cooper.
No comments:
Post a Comment