“It’s perhaps the most overwhelming feeling that I have had in years,” beamed scholarship awardee Tashanle Moore, after collecting her award at the Glen V Bromfield/Jamaica Civil Service Association Education Trust Fund scholarship awards ceremony in St Andrew last week.

“This scholarship has lifted a burden I have felt for as long as I can remember, not because I am pressured, because my aunty does a fine job caring for me. I know it has not been easy; I know she is pressured and I have been longing for the day that I could finally cause her some relief. It has finally arrived,” said the first form student at the St Andrew High School for Girls in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

Moore’s open expression of gratuity was in context of the ceremony that was held at the Medallion Hall Hotel, owened by Bromfield.

The scholarship trust, which is the brainchild of former president of the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) and Managing Director of Bloomfield Jamaica Limited was conceptualised and established against the need to provide financial assistance to children at the secondary level who are excelling but are handicapped by inadequate financial resources.

But the trust, which was established in 2011 with the administrator general being named the trustee, under the theme transforming lives through education, was hampered by its own ability to procure enough funding during that year. However, in 2014 the group had its first awards ceremony, from which nine students benefited from across several parishes. Cognisant of the increasing demands for assistance this year, the trust fund committee decided to increase this number by five, bringing this year awardees to 12.

“We received applications from almost every parish. There were many children who were seeking assistance and we could not tell them no. Remember, our motto is transforming lives through education and we have to charge we just have to make the effort,” Bromfield argued.

He encouraged the awardees to begin creating their dreams and make clear predictions of their future and destiny while scolding criminals who prey on children, to desist from murdering and exploiting them. “Let them be! Our children are afraid and we just want you to leave them alone,” he pleaded.

Treading a similar path inspiring hope and empowering the awardees, guest speaker Deputy Financial Secretary of the public service establishment division in the ministry of finance and planning and former president of the JCSA Wayne Jones implored the children that by embracing education they could propel themselves out of poverty while creating an impression on the world synchronously.

“Education is a treasure that we all should be searching for. It is the vehicle that will transform your lives, and help the awardees to become world changers, there is so much that each and everyone of you can contribute to the world and you must capitalise on this,” Jones advised.

He encouraged the awardees not to become disheartened by virtue of their financial limitations citing Ian Boyne’s television programme ‘Profile.’ He described how the exemplary civil servant has made the Sunday evenings of many Jamaicans delightful by highlighting Jamaicans who have made a transition from a life poverty to prosperity — encouraging the awardees to aim to be considered among these outstanding Jamaicans.

Also speaking at the event Administrator General of Jamaica and Chief Executive Officer of the Administrator General Department Lona Brown lauded the efforts of Bromfield and the JCSA for taking charge and making a concerted effort to bridging the gap between children and access to education. She said that the administrator general, as trustee of the education trust fund, will continue to ensure continuity and sustainability of the fund.

Of the 12 students awarded, seven were granted scholarships valuing $100,000 each while the remaining five students were provided with $20,000 each in bursary.