‘Grant a wish’ for a child in State care this Christmas
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaicans at home and abroad have been invited to ‘Grant a wish’ for a child in State care for the Christmas season.
The initiative was conceived by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) as a way to bring cheer to the children, who will not have an opportunity to join a family for the holidays due to the cancellation of the ‘Take a child home for Christmas’ programme this year.
Chief Executive Officer of the CPFSA, Rosalee Gage Grey, said the decision was made to put the programme on hold because of the logistics and the heightened risk to the children at this time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead, she said that each child has been asked to write a wish or two that they want granted.
“It has been a very difficult period for our children, so we thought that we would bring some cheer to them through this programme,” she said.
“We will try to make contact with sponsors and other persons who want to grant them their wishes, but we are also appealing to companies and employees and the general public, who may want to be a part of the programme, to contact the CPFSA’s regional offices.”
Arrangements are also in place for those living overseas to make monetary contributions, which will be used to purchase gifts for the children they would have selected.
Interested persons may contact the CPFSA’s regional offices in Kingston and St Andrew at 876-948-1145 or 876-967-1614; the southern region which covers Manchester, Clarendon and St Elizabeth, at 876-962-2558; the north east region covering St Ann, St Mary and Portland, at 876-972-2686; and the western region, encompassing St James, Trelawny, Hanover and Westmoreland, at 876-979-3446.
