Having a Ball for Hanover Charities
Since 1957, Hanover Charities has been committed to helping the communities and residents of the western Jamaican parish. The organisation oversees a number of charitable efforts, including school-feeding programmes, early childhood education, feeding the needy, caring for the indigent, providing health services, and assisting promising tertiary-level students with financial aid. The majority of the funds for these projects are raised each February at the Sugar Cane Ball.
Held over US Presidents’ Day weekend, the Sugar Cane Ball is attended by philanthropists from the States, Britain, Canada and Jamaica who are mindful of the needs of Hanover’s disadvantaged residents. The event is one of the largest fund-raising galas on The Rock. This year’s staging took place last Saturday at the Round Hill Hotel and Villas and had the highest attendance in the event’s history – 365 guests.
In her welcome, Hanover Charities chair Katrin Casserly announced that the financial goal for 2019 was to exceed last year’s whopping US$600,000. This allowed the charity to build computer rooms at four primary schools; cover the annual operating cost of the weekly Kitchen Of Love soup kitchen in Lucea; improve a community centre; operate a health fair; update 10 libraries; and provide 180 tertiary students with full and partial scholarships, a number of whom were ushers at Saturday’s event.
During dinner, Casserly and Josef Forstmayr, the managing director of Round Hill Hotel and Villas, who is also a Hanover Charities board member, made a special presentation to British philanthropist Sir Christopher Hohn, who has been an ardent supporter of the charity. Sir Christopher was unable to attend, however, but was represented by his parents Paul and Winnie Hohn.
The Chokey Taylor band provided the evening’s entertainment and after dinner guests danced until the clothes stuck to their backs. There was even a conga line to boot! Guests had a fantastic time at the 62nd annual Sugar Cane Ball and it was all for a good cause. Friday Social has highlights.
