THE Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf, located in Kingston, was on Labour Day given a facelift by the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation.

The NCB Foundation contributed approximately $1.7 million to renovate some areas of the facility, of which the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in Knockpatrick, Manchester, also benefited.

Group Marketing and Communications Manager at NCB, Nichole Brackett Walters, told JIS News that the foundation chose to renovate the buildings for the deaf and hearing-impaired community on Labour Day because these facilities often offer refuge to people in dire need.

“We selected Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf because we want to help build a better Jamaica and also to add value through education,” Brackett Walters said.

The NCB Foundation also spent approximately $3.2 million on other Labour Day projects at 32 schools across the island, through their Adopt-a-School programme, for painting, beautification and minor infrastructural repairs.

Approximately 50 volunteers, which included NCB Foundation directors and scholars, were at the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in Kingston to clean and paint the walls of the institution, along with painting the perimeter fence and cleaning the grounds.

The centre’s goal is to reach, teach and nurture the deaf and hearing-impaired individuals, while teaching them a skill and helping them to gain full-time employment.

The Kingston campus is currently the only training institution in the Corporate Area for deaf and hearing-impaired individuals, and enrols approximately 50 per cent of deaf children in Jamaica. In addition to offering primary and secondary education through sign language, the Kingston-based campus offers vocational training in cosmetology and barbering.