More than 650 children from Port Antonio and adjacent communities in Portland benefited from a back-to-school mission hosted at Carder Park in the parish capital.

The event, ‘Portland Paradise Weekend’, was spearheaded by Eunice Rashford, a Jamaican residing in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

She received support from Jamaica’s honorary consul in Atlanta Dr Elaine Grant Bryan, through her foundation, as well as Delta Airlines, which is headquartered in Atlanta.

Their collaboration resulted in the acquisition of notebooks, textbooks, children’s books, backpacks, calculators and electronic school supplies that were presented to the youngsters.

Grant Bryan told JIS News that she was happy to be one of the event’s sponsors and to be able to assist in acquiring school supplies for the children.

The diplomat, who was in Port Antonio for the event, said she is planning to help more schools in the future.

“There is a great interest in me helping the schools. A lot of corporations are willing to help me when I told them what I was doing. I then realised that I could do it for many schools, so I am hoping to come back in short order to do more of it,” she said.

Grant Bryan pointed out that schools in other parishes, especially those adversely affected by the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July, can also benefit from future donations.

“So I am going to be talking with some executives when I return, to see how they can help. Together it will be significant,” she emphasised.

Grant Bryan also praised the staff of Delta Airlines for their role in the back-to-school drive.

“They have been very helpful to me for the six years since I have been honorary consul. They have been super-helpful,” she told JIS News.

Portland Paradise Weekend was launched in 2016 to attract tourists to Portland and create economic opportunities for residents of the parish.