SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Eight years ago, the newly formed Godfrey Stewart High School past students’ association – Florida/Bahamas (FLOBAH) chapter approached administrators at their alma mater, asking in what way they could assist the Westmoreland institution.

They were told that it was a challenge to sustain the school’s breakfast programme for needy students. At the time, they struggled to meet their daily quota of meals for 35 youngsters.

Winsome Kirlew, FLOBAH’s publicist, said the programme became and remains their biggest project. Their aggressive fund-raising has enabled Godfrey Stewart High School to provide 500 students daily with breakfast.

“It has been very successful; every month we send US$1,000 to the school to help out. There are other sponsors but FLOBAH is the main source,” Kirlew told the Jamaica Observer West.

COVID-19 halted the Godfrey Stewart High School breakfast programme for two years but it resumed in December following FLOBAH’s dinner/dance at the Miramar Civic Center in South Florida.

Guest speaker at the function was Garold Hamilton, a mechanical engineer, whose father was a past student.

Kirlew and her five colleagues — President Devon Dobson, Vice-President Jennifer Robinson, secretary Hope Grant, treasurer Levi Thomas and assistant secretary Rohan Kerr — attended the school when it was known as Sav-la-Mar Secondary School. It was founded as Senior School in 1963.

In 2000, when the Jamaican Government upgraded secondary schools to high school status, there was another name change in honour of Godfrey Stewart, an educator and founding principal.

Student enrollment at Godfrey Stewart High School is 1,600.

A long-time South Florida resident, Kirlew stressed the importance of FLOBAH giving back to their school and parish.

“We wish we had this type of assistance when we were going to school. These kids are doing better academically, physically and otherwise because of the breakfast programme,” she said.