Quick-service food gia nt Restaurants of Jamaica (ROJ) is celebrating the start of the Christmas season through its KFC Add Hope outreach programme with a donation of 1,300 KFC meals towards Food For The Poor’s (FFP) Angels of Hope programme.

For the second-consecutive year, ROJ’s holiday meal donation will benefit the wards and caregivers of 25 children’s homes islandwide.

“Christmas is recognised worldwide as a special time to celebrate family and unity and spread joy to those who need it the most,” noted ROJ Brand Manager Andrei Roper when he joined the FFP team in Kendal, Manchester, to hand over meals to caregivers from the Salvation Army Hanbury Home for Children in Kendal and the Mount Olivet Boys Home in Walderston, Manchester – two of the beneficiary homes this season.

Roper continued, “KFC is happy and proud to partner with Food For the Poor for another year to share the true spirit of the giving season with so many children.”

The KFC Add Hope donation is a continuation of ROJ’s extensive outreach and philanthropy activities, a commitment that has deepened since the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Roper explained, “The past year and a half has been a difficult one for many Jamaicans, replete with new challenges and unexpected changes. This is why we ramped up our activities through the Add Hope programme to provide as much assistance as possible during this period. Our continued partnership with FFP is just one way in which we try to touch and improve the lives of others.”

FFP manager for health and child care, Chevanse Rowe-Lyn Sue, welcomed the ongoing partnership between ROJ, noting, “We are so grateful that Restaurants of Jamaica continues to support our Angels of Hope Children’s Homes December activities. Both Children and caregivers look forward to the vouchers each year. This December we were able to serve over 1,200 children and caregivers combined and each was able to receive a KFC meal voucher. We remain appreciative of the great partnership with ROJ and we look forward to future support.”

Since the start of the pandemic, ROJ has donated more than $20 million in cash, meals and other support to various organisations including the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MoEYI), Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW), Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) COVID-19 Relief Fund, and Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

These efforts have also included 2,500 care packages for needy children valued at $4 million donated through the PSOJ COVID-19 relief fund, a $2-million donation towards the construction of a new field hospital and treatment facility at the University Hospital of the West Indies, as well as hundreds of meals for medical personnel and other frontline workers across the island.