5th Annual Communities for Christmas Treat 2023
Jamaica College and Kairos Network Ltd (a community based organization) have partnered for the 5th time to host a Christmas Treat for inner-city children from Kingston and St. Andrew. This event is spearheaded by the school’s Spiritual Enrichment Committee. The children are hosted on the Jamaica College (JC) campus.
Saturday, December 16, 2023
One-hundred seventy children between the ages of 2 – 12 years old were feted to games, food and entertainment on a spacious football field. The novelty of having a large greenspace was one highlight of this event. Most of the children come from communities where the road is their playfield. Volunteers painted faces, served snow cones, popcorn, ice cream, cake, bag drink, bag water and a cooked meal along with biscuits, chips and box milk to the children. They had a belly full! A dartboard that tested the children in basic mathematics, spelling and knowledge about the Christmas story was a popular spot. Children left there with prizes like skipping ropes, yo-yos, toy cars and make up sets.
The children performed songs and dramatizations about the birth of Jesus. The culminating activity was presenting each child with a wrapped Christmas gift. Smiles appeared and anticipation rose as children stepped forward to receive their Christmas presents. JC staff members, parents and students donated and wrapped these gifts. The pleasure was ours to serve the children.
Parents, staff members, students and volunteers from Kairos Network cooked, supervised children, performed as clowns and made the day a success! The support from the JC community and corporate sponsors increased this year and we look forward to it increasing in the future. It was good to see volunteers from last year return to assist us. For some of the volunteers this is an event to look forward to. It has increased interactions between parents and teachers, helping to build a more cohesive school community.
The United Nations Club of Jamaica College donated items from its tin drive. These were packaged into 20 care packs that the volunteers handed to the parents of the children from more needy homes. JC’s Key Club and Digital Arts Club were on hand to set up, pull down, manage games and take pictures and videos of the event.
The children came from: Landlease, Highlight View (Mud Town), Mona Commons, August Town, Bedward Gardens, Jones Town, Parade Gardens and Waltham Park. The children expressed their gratitude for JC’s generosity. One child was still beaming the day after the event that he got the chance to play football. Other children were thankful for the amount of food they ate and the prizes they won. They were excited about their gifts as well.
JC Key Club members assist in the Community Treat The dart is used to burst the balloons that have a question in them When the answered correctly, the child wins a prize.
(Click on the image on the right to see more)
Overall, this event brought the children out of their environment into a wide open space with age appropriate activities and music that didn’t promote badness or sexuality. They got the chance to see others give to people they had no obligation to give to. It reminds me of God giving us his precious son as the gift of redemption when we did nothing to deserve it.
(Click on the image on the left for more)
This event culminates a year of on-going mentorship in these communities where Kairos Network Ltd. volunteers are raising a generation that will bless our nation and others.
Some of our sponsors who gave us donations to make this event happen
For the day’s HIGHLIGHTS…
Click on the image on the left. Enjoy!
Thanks to everyone who worked behind the scenes and was present on the day! We don’t have pictures of everyone (like Miss Abrahams who came out early that morning to prep the chicken). God bless you all! The kids and their parents have been expressing thanks for the event.
Thanks to UN club, Key Club and Digital Arts Club who were out again this year to support the event! Hopefully next year, God willing, we can have more clubs participate!
Let’s make it happen again God willing next year!
