HOPEWELL, HANOVER — Following last year’s record donation of more than $125 million to various projects, including a highly anticipated scholarship programme, the western Jamaica-based Hanover Charities (HC) is pushing to provide additional assistance in 2025.

According HC Chairman Katrin Casserly, the organisation, which, for the most part, is funded with proceeds from the annual Sugar Cane Ball, will this year be seeking to re-establish the breakfast feeding programme which was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic in primary schools across the parish.

She explained that details of the programme will be worked out after next month’s staging of the ball, which is traditionally staged annually at Round Hill Hotel and Villas.

“This is definitely something we want to start, in addition to all our other projects which we will continue running because those have now become part of us,” Casserly told the Jamaica Observer.

“The main event, the Sugar Cane Ball at Round Hill Hotel & Villas, which this year [is themed as] an ‘Evening in Old Havana’, is on Saturday, February 15. The week will culminate with the Hanover Charities & Chukka Foundation Polo Match on Sunday, February 16 at the Chukka Blue Polo Field,” she added.

A release from HC underscored that the “injection of funding last year has enabled the increase of community-driven activities and presence even further across the parish”.

For instance, education has always been a major focus of the charity organisation and last year 219 recipients benefitted from $37 million in scholarship to support their studies from high school level to master’s degrees.

HC scholarship beneficiaries are encouraged to study a wide range of subjects including medicine, law, social work, engineering and agriculture, with their focus to eventually return to support their home parish and country.

Last year, HC was able to fund two additional soup kitchens, in New Milns and Hopewell. Along with the existing Kitchen of Love in Lucea, the charity now feeds more than 1,000 people once per week “thanks to an army of volunteers coming together from various churches to cook and serve the food”.

Other projects the charity has been able to support include the fourth iteration of Container of Love. This initiative provided Westhaven Children’s Home and Lucea Infirmary with much-needed mattresses, clothing, and sanitary supplies; classroom furniture for the upgraded Dalmally Basic School, food items for the three soup kitchens and more.

Last year the charity also provided Hopewell High with a container and a $500,000 grant to retrofit it to house an auto mechanic classroom. Construction is still in progress.

A year before, Cave Valley Primary School was the beneficiary of a container and a $1-million grant for retrofitting. It has been transformed into a room, now ready to house a parent homework centre.

A grateful Ryan Pusey, principal of Cave Valley Primary, lauded the Casserly-led HC for their benevolence.

“Hanover Charities is one of the best things that ever happened to my school. Mrs Casserly is a gem to Hanover schools. Most of the appliances that I have at my school right now come from Hanover Charities. Our latest donation from Hanover Charities is a half-a-million-dollar copier. I got it last week Thursday,” Pusey said.

“Mrs Casserly gave me a container and she suited out the container: I mean painting, interior, air condition, you name it. The container is now ready to host a parent homework centre. She gave me the container, delivered it. I didn’t have to do anything. I gave her the estimate of what we want to do to the container and she provided the money. Even after she gave me the money I went over budget and I reached out back to her and without batting an eye she transferred $300,000 to the school account to finish up the container. So it’s $300,000, plus an initial $800,000, more than $1 million she granted us,” the elated school administrator added.

Acting principal of Hopewell High School Leroy Gordon was equally thankful to Hanover Charities for the school’s soon-to-be-completed auto mechanic classroom.

“We are on the final phase of finishing the construction now. The intention is for it to be used as an auto mechanic area. So that is what we are using it for. It’s in the final stages now but it’s good. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without the donation,” Gordon said.

Casserly pledged continued support for projects across the parish as she hailed sponsors, members of HC team and the many volunteers.

“Oh gosh! I am thrilled, I am humbled with the donations every year that we deliver; we stay true to our commitment assisting in terms of what we promised. For example, we have grown the soup kitchen project; we have grown the scholarship project; and we continuously support, for example, the Mediation Centre, 4-H Club, the health project. For me personally, it’s rewarding that we can catch so many and give them assistance so they can make it better for themselves by getting support from us. We touch thousands; we feed 1,000 people every week. It touches thousands of people. The HC projects touch people. It’s a great the effort,” she said.