“Giving back to your country is the best feeling one can have,” said a gratified Oswald Dixon of the eight-year-old foundation he and his siblings established as a way to honour their mother. The businessman and philanthropist is co-founder of the Rachel Dixon Memorial Foundation, which has been making a difference in the parish of Manchester, contributing in areas including health and education.

He said the foundation was modelled after Rachel Dixon’s kindness, dedication, and the sacrifices she made in raising her children in the community of Bethany, Manchester.

“My mother was a simple woman who raised all her six children after the death of my dad. She raised her children with pride and taught us to love each other and to strive for excellence. After her death in 2017 we started the foundation,” Oswald Dixon said with pride.

Over the years, the foundation has donated new beds for Percy Junor Hospital’s operating theatre and other medical supplies, while schools and students in and around Manchester have received back-to-school items such as backpacks, laptops, stationery and computer tablets.

“There are five students who are currently sponsored. One of our success stories is that one of our sponsored students was sponsored for 10 years — through high school, sixth form, and college. He has just graduated and is teaching at a high school in Manchester,” said an obviously proud Dixon.

“He was one of the guest speakers and he told the audience that if it wasn’t for the Rachel Dixon Memorial Foundation he would not know where he would have been. This made me feel awesome as I have changed one life,” Dixon added, beaming with satisfaction.

For the past two years he has been part of a medical mission run by Jamaica Nurses’ Association of Florida and the Kiwanis Club of Kendall, South Dade. They provide health care and humanitarian services to rural communities and the foundation works closely with them.

Dixon said it has been a lot of work but the effects have been heart-warming. He encouraged others to play their part in changing even one person’s life so that individual, in turn, can change the world.

“There are a lot of people here who could have been professionals who just need a little help, a little push for an opportunity to make a difference,” he said.