SAGICOR Foundation, as part of its ongoing Adopt-A-School programme, has selected four new institutions for infrastructural renovations in 2023 and, feted the students and staff at each of these schools last week.

The four newly adopted schools are Iron Gate Basic in Clarendon; Irish Pen Basic in Spanish Town, St Catherine; Freetown Basic in rural St Andrew; and Shrewsbury Basic in St Elizabeth.

The foundation gifted the schools with Christmas trees at the beginning of the Yuletide then last week brought Christmas parties to them, bearing wrapped gifts for each child and member of staff.

Michelle-Ann Letman, manager of public relations and corporate social responsibility, Sagicor Group Jamaica, noted that the Christmas treats were the group’s way of officially welcoming the new schools into the Sagicor Foundation family.

“It’s a magical experience to see how happy the children were as they played, interacted with Santa Clause, and received their gifts — and how elated the school administrators and communities were that they were selected for the programme,” a company release quotes Letman.

“Each year we develop such beautiful relationships with our adopted basic schools as we work with them to upgrade their facilities, and that customarily begins with sharing in the joy and love of Christmastime,” added Letman.

She noted that this year the beneficiaries of another of Sagicor Foundation’s ongoing initiatives — the scholarship programme — played a big part in the festivities as tertiary students from that programme volunteered to specially wrap the gifts for the children.

Venessa Daley, a final-year University of Technology, Jamaica student and Sagicor Foundation volunteer, said it warmed her heart to be able to bring joy to others during Christmas.

“It was my first time participating in an activity such as this, and it made me feel really good knowing that each gift that I hand-picked, wrapped, and labelled would be touching the life of a child and bringing them happiness,” said Daley.

In October Sagicor Foundation completed upgrades at two of three early childhood institutions for 2022 — Bermaddy Basic School in Linstead, St Catherine, and John Anglin Basic School in Warsop, Trelawny — enabling the schools to improve their ranking with the Early Childhood Commission and better serve their communities.