The Toots Foundation, in association with Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation, recently donated funds and care packages to three schools in western Jamaica, one of the regions badly damaged by Hurricane Melissa.

Leba Hibbert, vice-president of the Toots Foundation, said the packages were presented to the Manning’s School in Westmoreland, as well as Green Pond High School and Spot Valley high schools, which are located in St James.

The presentation took place at GraceKennedy’s offices in Kingston, one day after what would have been the 82nd birthday of her father, reggae legend Toots Hibbert, who died in September 2020.

Approximately $2.2 million was also handed over to administrators at the schools to assist students with fees for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

“After the hurricane I was talking with Deidre Cousins, who is the chief information officer at GraceKennedy, on how we could contribute to the Melissa relief programme. Schools in western Jamaica faced major disruption after Hurricane Melissa, so that’s how these schools were selected,” Hibbert disclosed.

Founded in 1738, Manning’s School is one of the oldest schools in the English-speaking Caribbean. Its campus in Savanna-la-Mar sustained major damage from the Category 5 hurricane, which made landfall in Jamaica on October 28.

The Hibbert family launched the Toots Foundation in 2006 to assist financially challenged students further their education. It has donated money to schools mainly in Kingston and Clarendon, where Toots Hibbert was from.

Leba Hibbert toured for many years with her father as a member of 54-46, his harmony group. Since his death, she has been lead singer for Toots And The Maytals featuring Leba Hibbert in the United States and United Kingdom.

— Howard Campbell