MONTEGO BAY, St James — Executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International (SRI) Adam Stewart has provided a fillip to the 10th staging of the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run with a $6-million sponsorship of the event scheduled for Sunday, May 3 in this western city.

Speaking during the media launch of the event at S Club in Montego Bay Tuesday, Stewart said that this year’s sponsorship represents a 100 per cent increase over last year’s donation by Sandals.

“Because it is our 10th staging this year, I personally would like to double that,” Stewart announced.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer following the announcement, elated event conceptualiser Janet Silvera said she was pleasantly surprised by the amount of the sponsorship.

“I was shocked! Sandals Resorts, Sandals Foundation, Sandals have been good to us from day one. From 14 years ago, when we said we were doing a run for education, that was one of the first organisations to tell us ‘Yes,’” she said.

“And all they have done is to improve on where they started. I think they started out being the highest sponsor with $700,000, and then they moved to $1 million. Last year they gave us $3 million; this year, $6 million. Them double it! What more could we have asked for?” she said.

Silvera said the capital injection signifies that SRI believes in the event.

“This type of sacrifice, and care, and consideration that the organisation has for what we are doing, it is obvious that they respect what we’re doing and they believe in what we’re doing. They know that this is a credible run and that their money is going into the right hands — and for me, it has literally made my day. Made my day!” exclaimed Silvera.

During the 2024 launch, the then MoBay City Run was renamed in honour of Jill Stewart, Adam Stewart’s late wife and one of the event’s biggest supporters before she passed. On Tuesday the hotelier noted that Silvera initially asked for five years of support, “[but] she can have us as long as she will have us”.

“It is a huge honour for us as a family to have her [Jill’s] name on this run,” said Stewart who is also executive chairman of the Observer.

Silvera spoke of the progress made since the run was renamed.

“The best thing we ever did was to dedicate our run to the name Jill Stewart. She has brought us so much luck, so much generosity, so much kindness from the business community. People who knew Jill knew her compassion and understood the importance of having this legacy run for her. [They] have been supporting us big time, and so we have been able to help more people as a result of her name being added to the race. So, we look forward and we are excited to continue for another five years after the five-year run ends,” she told the Observer.

She said $12 million of the funds raised from last year’s event was donated to those in need, and the goal is to donate at least $15 million this year.

“This 10th staging of the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run is different. This year is not only a celebration, it is a mission. In 2026 we are committing to directly invest $10 million into education, assisting 10 institutions. Five of those are high schools that were severely damaged by Hurricane Melissa, and the other five are the tertiary institutions we have supported from the very beginning,” Silvera announced.

The Category 5 hurricane ravaged mostly western parishes last October.

“We also know that rebuilding schools cannot be done by one organisation alone so today we are issuing a call — a call to the private sector, a call to foundations, a call to Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora: Adopt a school; stand with these institutions that are still struggling to recover; help us rebuild the spaces where dreams begin,” she added.

Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon supported her call, saying, “the goal is urgent because the cost of inaction is high”.

“When schools are compromised, the risks multiply: learning loss becomes entrenched, youth disengage, and social tensions rise. Restoring classrooms and the institutions that socialise our young people is therefore a civic imperative,” the mayor said.

“As Montego Bay marks its 45th year of city status we must decide what kind of city we will be. Will we be known only for our beaches and festivals, or will we be known for our capacity to nurture every child, to rebuild institutions, and to stand together in crisis? The MoBay City Run answers that question: We are a city that invests in people, that measures success by the futures we secure for our children,” he added.

Vernon also hailed the move to bring the run into the heart of the city as “symbolic and strategic”.

“When runners fill our central streets, the message is clear: Education belongs at the heart of public life. The route through our city is a living metaphor: Recovery must be visible, collective and central to our identity. The sight of thousands moving together through the city centre will be a powerful reminder that civic life is sustained by shared purpose,” he stated.

During the launch a number of private sector organisations were also honoured by event organisers.

The theme of the 10th Jill Stewart MoBay City Run is ‘Run for Recovery… Run for Education’.

The event has handed over $45 million towards education since its inception.

Founder of the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run Janet Silvera is flanked by mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon (left) and executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International Adam Stewart during Tuesday’s launch of the 2026 edition of the run.