MAY PEN, Clarendon — Marcelle Jackson grew up with a single mom but she was raised by an entire community of kind-hearted individuals who helped when she was in need. So on December 23, 2020 she launched the non-profit MJ Foundation to give back, her way of honouring those who helped her find her way.

“I put together a Christmas package as a token of appreciation to give to all the persons who assisted me. The feeling of contentment that it gave me, I made a decision that I wanted to start my own foundation,” Jackson explained.

“If it wasn’t for them, most of the time I would not be able to attend school. My mom didn’t have it and I had to borrow from my neighbours and sometimes I had to borrow from a shopkeeper,” she added.

She told the Jamaica Observer that after losing her job her mom did people’s laundry to provide lunch money for her to attend classes, but the money was not enough to cover her expenses.

“It was only $5,000 she was receiving after washing, and it would normally run out very quickly so I had to borrow from my neighbours,” she said.

The help still came when she began going to St Joseph’s Teachers’ College in Kingston. Neighbours helped with bus fare and lunch money.

“I had to travel from Clarendon to Kingston every day for four years and most of the days I had to borrow money so that I could get to school,” said Jackson.

She didn’t waste the opportunity. After graduating college she landed a job at a primary school. And she immediately turned her focus to giving back. Today, as head of the MJ Foundation, she leads an eight-member, all-female group whose other members are just as passionate and driven as she is to serve.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, they organised a stationery drive, Jackson’s flagship project, to provide students with supplies needed to help them keep up with their studies. Held in 2020 at Morgan’s Pass in Clarendon, the event — staged in accordance with COVID-19 prevention measures at the time — was open to all the students in the community.

“I am very big on education and growing up I did not see a lot of people giving back to their community especially to children,” Jackson said of her reason for doing the project.

She does not yet have permanent sponsors on board who will help her execute her vision of helping those in need; however, she has received sponsorship from a few organisations such as Grace Foods and Food For the Poor.

She has also forged a partnership with Aspirar Jamaica, a youth-led non-profit group which focuses on the development of society through humanitarian services. Together they provide food to the homeless in Mandeville. Jackson also led a vision empowerment session at the St Augustine Place of Safety in Chapelton, Clarendon, where her team provided guidance on goal setting and conflict resolution. They also donated clothes and appliances to help the facility operate more efficiently.

Jackson’s current focus is a period poverty drive, spurred by her own challenges in accessing sanitary supplies when growing up with financial challenges. The period poverty drive takes a dual approach where pads are distributed to young girls who also benefit from a girl’s talk session.

“Some schools sell single pads to students for $20 and $30; however, some students are still not able to afford it,” said Jackson.

The MJ Foundation’s first distribution of pads and sanitary items was done at Morgan’s Pass All-Age School.

“They were truly grateful for the pads and they really had a great time during the session. Some of the girls were able to relate to some of the items used by girls when they don’t have a pad, like tissue and socks,” Jackson said.

The initiative has earned high marks from the principal of Morgan’s Pass All-Age, Hikebah Hasse.

“I am grateful because most times persons forget about the schools in the rural areas, and students really do need to be informed on sensitive topics such as period poverty,” said Hasse.

Upcoming stops for the period poverty drive include Jackson’s alma mater Central High school and St Monica’s Children’s Home in Clarendon.

To donate to the period poverty drive, individuals can send MJ Foundation a DM on Instagram: @MJ__Foundation or e-mail: jacksonmarcelle0428@gmail.com.