While the Issa Trust Foundation’s For the Children concert on May 17 is expected to deliver an evening of world-class entertainment, the trust’s chairman, Paul Issa, says the event’s legacy surpasses its phenomenal line-up.

Outlining that the foundation is a big supporter of the local health-care system, particularly through the development of the Mary Issa Health Centre, Issa said this year’s event is poised to be another success.

“This is our most ambitious target to date and it involves the construction of our health centre for kids and adolescents in St Ann and what we’re doing now is raising funds to complete the construction. The building is, the structure is there and we just want to finish it,” Issa said. “This concert is about more than just entertainment. It’s about supporting our local health-care system in the best ways possible and we believe completing this new facility will do just that.”

“This will be our sixth event and I think we put on a really enjoyable evening,” he continued, outlining that the concert serves up quality entertainment in an all-inclusive setting that will undoubtedly leave patrons satisfied.

“It’s all inclusive [food and drink], everybody is a VIP with unlimited gourmet food and premium liquors and 100 per cent of the proceeds will go towards the Mary Issa Health Centre, a paediatric and adolescent care facility near Richmond, St Ann.”

Since its first staging in 2017, the concert spearheaded by the ISSA Trust has brought performances from the likes of Air Supply and Michael Bolton, as well as local acts Third World, Tarrus Riley, Tessanne Chin, and Koffee.

The series of concerts have collectively raised millions of dollars and has assisted a number of local facilities including the Annotto Bay Hospital, the Savanna-La-Mar hospital and the St Ann’s Bay Hospital.

This year, the lineup includes Grammy-winning recording artiste, Shaggy, who will be joined by the incomparable Lila Ike as headline acts.

Paul Issa, chairman of Issa Trust Foundation.

“Normally we have an international star and a local star or two but this year we were lucky enough to have the international act as one of our very own home-grown talent,” said Issa, as he expressed delight in having Shaggy as the evening’s main performer.

“He is gonna put on a great show for us and then we have Lila Ike, a beautiful voice and she’s performing for the first time in Jamaica for a while because she’s been on tour so we are very happy about having her.”

Issa also revealed that the main acts will also be supported by performances from Tessanne Chin’s Voicebox ensemble.

“To open the show we have Tessanne Chin’s talented Voicebox group. We call our events the For the Children charity concert and I thought it would be great to have a group of children, who are very professional and very talented, to open the show,” Issa shared.

“We also have her sister Tami and Wayne [Marshall] as hosts for the evening and they do a wonderful job so everyone is on board. It’s going to be a fun evening.”

Tickets are available at Fontana Pharmacy in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Barbican and Waterloo Square; Couples Resorts – Sans Souci, Tower Isle, and Montego Bay; Jacana outlets in New Kingston, Manor Park, Ocho Rios; and at Country Store in Richmond, St Ann, and Negril, Westmoreland. They may also be purchased at
issatrustfoundation.com. The event is set to take place on the grounds of Couples Sans Souci hotel in Prospect, St Mary.