STUDENTS from the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), who are recipents of the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards scholarshipS will be able to benefit from a $4.5-million book grant being made available by the Desnoes and Geddes (D&G) Foundation over the next three years.

The grant will be awarded to final-year students pursuing a hospitality degree at the university’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Board director at Desnoes and Geddes Foundation Dianne Ashton-Smith, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Friday at the agreement signing event said the scholarship package provided by the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards is a “great legacy”.

“We are particularly keen on aligning ourselves with platforms such as this that really help to empower young people. We see where the hospitality industry needs support in terms of customer service, et cetera, and so when I heard two of the scholarship recipients speaking [last year] I was so impressed at their journey. I said, ‘This aligns beautifully with the D&G Foundation where we are all about impacting lives and enriching communities,’ ” she said.

“One of our big pillars is education, and education that aligns with our own mantra as being the parent company [for] Red Stripe. We think that’s the best way to get our generations younger than ourselves empowered, able to go out and develop that entrepreneurial spirit, and live up to who we are as proud Jamaicans. We think it’s a great alignment and so it was a no-brainer for us to come on board,” Ashton-Smith added, expressing her excitement at being able to contribute to the scholarship programme for the first time this year.

Encouraging the public to join in the efforts to help the next generation, Ashton-Smith said the D&G Foundation, which is a formalised charitable organisation for Red Stripe, believes in the Jamaican saying, “Every mikkle mek a mukkle.” “So if it’s $10 that you can give, anything that one can do to support [is apprecicated]. We also extend our foundation to volunteers who wish to join us, but we have a lot of other programmes that we do to support outside of scholarships,” Ashton-Smith revealed.

Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards Committee Chairperson Novia McDonald-Whyte said that the scholarships are centred on “the tradition of securing the future”.

“If you are saying that you are elevating the narrative around the food you’ve got to look behind you — and someone must be behind. I was at the University of Technology, Jamaica for two years as a guest lecturer; I saw the need and we started to charge… and we’ve not looked back, because when the food awards started it was just by invitation only,” McDonald-Whyte said.

McDonald-Whyte, who is also senior associate editor for lifestyle and social content at the Observer, further explained that the goal is to help as many students as possible.

“We started with one scholarship, we are now at six; plus we are now able to afford full book grants because of Red Stripe…Don’t forget, a lot of students are actually at school, they can’t afford to buy the books, they can’t even afford to eat much less the books. So, they can now invest in good books about the industry. There’s nothing like a book, you know; we are now living in an era of online and AI, but the book is still powerful,” she said.

Last year six final-year UTech School of Hospitality and Tourism Management students received scholarships and bursaries courtesy of the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards Committee. A similar number is expected for 2023.