THE GraceKennedy Foundation has awarded 28 of their employees’ children with bursaries totalling approximately $1.44 million.

These students were awarded at the foundation’s annual Carlton Alexander bursary presentation ceremony on August 26.

Don Wehby, group CEO, said the students represent the cream of the crop of the children whose parents have built and continue to build GraceKennedy into the multi-million dollar company it is today.

“Each year, we receive hundreds of applications from students who desperately want assistance with financing their education. You have been given the opportunity to benefit from this programme,” Wehby told the recipients.

He encouraged the students to continue working as hard as Carlton Alexander — former chairman of GraceKennedy, who started his career as a store clerk and climbed the ladder to become chairman and CEO of the company.

“Carlton Alexander was an amazing man. He had to start working at the age of 16 when his father died, so he never got the opportunity to follow his dream which was to study to become a lawyer,” Wehby said.

“Even though he never fulfilled that dream, he made a very significant contribution as a businessman, which many will tell you was his calling. He may have started as a store clerk, but over the years, he worked his way up. His story proves that once you put in the hard work and apply dedication and discipline, there is nothing you cannot do.”

The GraceKennedy Foundation spends over $1.2 million annually on the Carlton Alexander bursaries as a means of encouraging academic excellence among the dependents of GraceKennedy staff. Awards are made to students at the secondary and tertiary levels, beginning from their entry into grade seven. The awards are renewed annually, once the student maintains a minimum B average.

— Ainsworth Morris