FALMOUTH, Trelawny — The just-over-50 residents at the Trelawny Infirmary should enjoy some more comfort today following a donation from the National Water Commission (NWC) which has provided the facility with a stove, $50,000 cash, and toiletries.

The support was made possible through donation’s from NWC employees in Trelawny and St James, supplemented by its corporate office.

During the handing over ceremony at the infirmary last week, Horace Binns, acting regional manager for St James and Trelawny, said the initiative was the brainchild of acting NWC President Kevin Kerr.

“The staff at NWC, we thought it necessary to contribute to the society in general, so we decided to see how can we support persons who are most vulnerable,” said Binns.

“And when we met with the administrators of the infirmary they highlighted some needs to us, and based upon what was committed to us from our corporate office we needed to give internally, and our staff decided that they would support the corporate initiative by giving additional support from their personal funds,” added Binns.

He said members of staff were enthusiastic to contribute to the venture.

“Some of the things that are here are directly coming from the partnership with the staff of the NWC and from corporate NWC. There was no one who said no to contributing to the initiative. So the staff here all contributed in some way or form to this initiative. And we see this as a good initiative that we can contribute to the needs of this home,” Binns said.

An appreciative C Junior Gager, mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), which operates the infirmary, saluted the NWC employees for their benevolence, which he said was timely.

Gager urged the NWC to sustain the new partnership.

“I would also appeal to you, Mr Binns, don’t make this a one-off situation. We want [National] Water Commission to be a part of the family. We want you to help or adopt so that we can be able to have a relationship going,” said Gager.

“In giving, that is the way we receive our blessings. Once you remember those who are less fortunate, don’t matter what anybody want to say about you, just remember those who are less fortunate. Be kind to them and you will see how things turn over. And I just want to say thank you and your beautiful team, sir.

“And, of course, we know we will have to play our part, so we will continue to play our part. But I am asking you, make sure you all become members of the family of the infirmary so that we can share this experience going forward,” added Gager.

In response Binns pointed out that the NWC, which assisted with a Labour Day Project in the parish in 2023, is always willing to assist wherever possible.

“We got a long list of things…some of them we cannot make any commitment that we can address them now, but we will see how we can assist going forward.

“We have also been assisting with the parish. In 2023 our Labour Day Project was at the infant school right up the road there. So we have always been giving back socially to the communities in Trelawny and St James, but you must understand that we have some limitation of resources,” said Binns.

“Our resource have to be put back to improve service to our customers. But on a general level we partner with the State agencies, such as the municipal corporation and the infirmary, to see how best we can improve the quality of life for these persons here.

“We recognise those persons here, they also would have contributed significantly to society sometime in the past through some way. And we are happy now that as an entity we can give back to them. Thank you for accepting our offer, and I also thank the staff for visiting,” Binns added.