ROSE HALL, St James — Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), SOS Children’s Village in Barrett Town and the Granville Place of Safety for Girls in Trelawny will benefit from Saturday’s second staging of the Half Moon Founders Cup Charity Golf Tournament held at White Witch Course in Rose Hall.

The event raised $3.15 million, topping the $2.19 million raised at the inaugural event held in 2019 at the same venue. According to Shernette Crichton, general manager of Half Moon, the day was a huge success.

Crichton told the Jamaica Observer they had an increase in participation with 16 teams numbering about 60 players, up from the 12 teams that played in 2019. She said CRH would get $2.5 million with the balance being shared between the other two organisations.

She said Saturday’s event was one of their many outreach (efforts) into the communities around the resort.

“Over the years, Half Moon has invested much in the community because we believe that the community in which we operate should benefit from our business and most of our employees as well are from these communities,” she said.

“We have adopted the Barrett Town All Age school, we have also since 1972 been very integral with the SOS Children’s Village and we have a home there and we have also adopted as well the Granville Place of Safety for Girls where our team visits on a quarterly basis where we conduct grooming exercises as well as self-esteem talks.”

She added: “We have also supported the Montego Bay Marine Park through our dollar-a-day donation programme, so we have investment in environmental sustainability, investments in education, as well as community service, so on Labour Day, for example, our team is out there, whether at Barrett Town, whether at CRH, whether at the infirmary and we also do Christmas treats.”

The Jamaica Tours Limited won the team event with a score of 129, followed by Massey, while the Rainforest team took third place.

Dr Garfield Badall, acting senior medical officer at CRH, said the donation was appreciated.

“With the dislocation of the hospital, there are some immediate needs…yes, there is a long-term vision, but any donation of this nature is gong to fulfill the needs that come up, especially equipment that would have a life expectancy of round about four years, so recurrently one needs replacements to execute the type of care at the highest level,” he said.

Badall said he was not sure what was required at the hospital at the moment, but said “there was a list that was submitted to the foundation”.

“I am not aware of all the requirements that were on it [the list],” he said. But he itemised the needs which require immediate attention.

“I know for sure [that] vital sign monitors that are essential…as well as other important things to do with infusion of intravenous fluids and antibiotics and so on, [and also] mostly electronic equipment,” Badall noted.

— Paul Reid