Olympic 100m hurdler Megan Tapper on Friday gave 10 electronic devices to student-athletes attending high schools across Jamaica as part of her philanthropic work as a patron of the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run for 2022.

The laptops and tablets were issued to students competing in various sporting disciplines at St Andrew High School for Girls, Immaculate Conception High, Lennon High, Oberlin High, Muschett High, Titchfield High, and Seaforth High.

The selection of students was done with the assistance of the National Education Trust — the Government agency responsible for managing investments in education. Upper-school and sixth-form students received laptop computers, while lower-school students received tablets.

Speaking at the handover, Tapper said she chose this initiative because it is one that is close to her heart.

“I was a student-athlete myself, so I know how hard these students work to excel in their studies while training and competing in the various disciplines,” she said. “When the Sagicor Foundation gave me the opportunity to select a charity, I knew immediately that I wanted to do something that would impact the next generation of student-athletes positively.”

Tapper was delighted that two of the recipients are students at her alma mater, St Andrew High School for Girls, while two others attend Lennon High, of which her dad is a past student.

Maja Henry, who competes in shot put and discus at St Andrew High School, said her new laptop will make it easier for her to access information that she needs to study.

“I can also copy and paste notes and make Google Docs to study from instead of my books, because sometimes when I’m training until late, and I want to catch up on some notes it’s difficult to do that with books in poor lighting. Having this laptop will make it much easier to multitask,” the sixth former said.

Mark Chisholm, Sagicor Group Jamaica’s chief revenue officer for insurance, was also present for the handovers, and he noted that sponsoring this initiative is Sagicor’s way of saying thank you to Tapper for being a Sigma Run 2022 patron, along with fellow Olympic hurdler Hansle Parchment.

“Megan and Hansle were simply phenomenal as Sigma Run patrons, and they both devoted their time and talent to help us raise over $52 million in aid of the Kingston Public Hospital,” Chisholm expressed. “We’re delighted to partner with them to provide a total of $1.3 million toward causes of their choosing. They both selected excellent initiatives that align well with Sagicor’s vision of improving the lives of those we serve.”

Parchment also used the opportunity to pay it forward to student-athletes. He pledged his contribution to his alma mater, Morant Bay High School, to help provide scholarships, meals, and educational support to students in track and field.