KINGSTON, Jamaica — The VM Group is devising other ways to assist persons who were affected during the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28 last year, following the $56 million that it spent on response support.

According to President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the VM Group, Courtney Campbell, they reached out and offered practical support to families in affected communities and are now moving into the “recovery and rebuilding phase”, offering support to the residents to help them with their rebuilding.

“We are providing gift certificates, so that they can access hardware material to refurbish their homes, rebuild their homes, and we are also offering gift certificates to students from 21 schools in the seven most affected parishes that will help them to replace some of the books and other educational materials that were lost during the hurricane,” he noted.

Campbell was speaking at a press briefing held on January 7 at the VM Group on Half-Way Tree Road in St Andrew, to outline details for the 46th Annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast, which will be held at the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew on January 15, beginning at 7:30 am.

He pointed out that team members from the VM Group have visited 24 affected communities with gift packages.

Through the response support, the VM Foundation has provided $1.2 million to its ImPact grantee, the Family and Parenting Centre, which operates in the West Green and Catherine Hall communities in St James. In partnership with the Fairview and Market Street VMBS branches, it supported a Parenting Empowerment and Children’s Christmas Treat, held on Sunday, December 21.

The VM Group, through its board of directors, partnered with Food For the Poor with a $2-million contribution to donate a two-bedroom house to a family in Myersville, St Elizabeth, ahead of Christmas Day. It has also contributed an additional $5 million to the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Hurricane Relief Fund.

Meanwhile, Campbell said their belief in the power of faith is a strong reason why they sponsor the Annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast, proceeds from which will be used to reconstruct the Wellness Centre at The Manning School, in Westmoreland, which was destroyed by the hurricane.

“We believe in the effectiveness of prayer. We believe in the importance of unity, and we believe, like many others, that righteousness exalts a nation. So, we stand in support of all the objectives and of all the virtues promoted by the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast. And we believe that we are called upon to practise justice, to practise love, because love is a practical thing — an action word, and that we are called to do all of that in humility,” he said.

— JIS