FOOD for the Poor (FFP) last Friday presented 346 children with scholarships to offset school fees, books, uniforms and other financial costs, representing a $14.6- million investment in the children.

The funds are seven times the $2.1 million the charity spent last year to assist the needy with back-to-school expenses

“We can’t invest too much in the future of our children,” said Bradley Finzi-Smith, FFP executive director, at the presentation ceremony in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

“We are not trying to just tap into the beginning and pre-school, but all the schools up to tertiary level institutions have benefitted, and that’s primarily because we are about total education,” said Finzi-Smith.

The charitable agency says so far this year it has spent some $177 million in total to assist children, the larger portion of which has gone into furniture for schools.

But, FFP has also financed school repairs, the conversion of pit latrines into flush toilets in about 17 schools this year, water projects to distribute potable supplies to schools for drinking, an $11.9 million investment to date to connect 11 schools.