Beverly Foote refused to abandon her responsibility to her eight children after she was incarcerated.

So, while serving time in Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre she applied to Food For the Poor (FFP) Jamaica for a house, as the one in which the children were living was substandard.

“It was a very difficult time for me and my family. I was incarcerated for some years and I left my kids here. When I came back, the place was rotten down and they were still living in there. Their father was here with them, but he never took care of them. I had to get my children into school from prison; send letters to the schools because he was not helping,” she said, adding that her family has grown to include 10 grandchildren with another due to be born soon.

On Thursday, July 20, Foote’s dream became reality as a team from FFP, accompanied by representatives from Supreme Ventures Ltd (SVL) arrived at Irish Pen in Spanish Town, St Catherine where they replaced Foote’s dilapidated house with a brand new structure.

Supreme Ventures was invited to participate in the construction of the house because the company donated $3 million to FFP’s annual 5K Run/Walk held in May this year. The house is one of five that the contribution will fund.

“Our hearts were so full when we gave to, and then got the chance to work on making this project a reality,” said Simone Clarke-Cooper, SVL’s assistant vice-president group corporate communication. “I think I can speak for everyone on our team when I say the experience was life-changing. We left feeling fulfilled and blessed to have worked with a fantastic and committed team from Food For the Poor.”

Development and marketing manager at FFP Jamaica, Marsha Burrell, said Supreme Ventures coming onboard as a contributor was serendipitous.

“When I saw that Supreme Ventures had come onboard as a sponsor, literally tears came to my eyes. It was just at the right time. We used the proceeds from the Food For the Poor 5K to build the houses and we’ve constructed 150 houses, so far. Most of our funding comes from overseas, so SVL’s contribution was very special,” she said.

“It takes so little to give a family a home, and it’s so much easier for persons who want to contribute to work with an organisation that is equipped like Food For the Poor,” Burrell said. She added that, in addition to the donations, FFP encourages donors to get involved in the actual construction of the houses as a team-building exercise, just as the SVL team had done.

Dressed in branded bright yellow shirts, the small contingent of volunteers was split up into teams that were assigned a range of duties.

Foote was also a part of the workforce, diligently painting the wooden panels that would form the walls of her two-bedroom house.

By two o’clock that afternoon Clarke-Cooper presented Foote and her family with the keys to a sunshine yellow house with white and red trim. “We are going to give you these keys knowing that God is going to continue to bless you, and that you will continue to live here happily ever after,” Clarke-Cooper said.

“In that moment when I handed over the keys I got goosebumps when I thought of the significance of what I was about to do, and what SVL had done in this woman’s life,” she said. “When we looked into Miss Bev’s eyes and saw what it meant to her, the team was moved beyond words. We came here today and there was nothing. We left Ms Foote moving into a house for her family. There are no words to express how good we feel.”