ACT!

ON INNOVATING

INSPIRINGIMPACTING

MEMBERS LEADING

WITH ACTION

In carrying out the corporate social responsibility of the JN Group, members of the Society and employees continued the work of the JNBS Branch Advisory Councils, established in all of the Society’s 24 locations across its branch network. The Councils were convened to provide an avenue for further involvement of members and staff in enhancing the facilities in the communities where they live and work.

64 projects were funded through the BAC project in 2007 to 2008, with more than 110 projects supported in the first two years of this initiative. Some of the branch projects include:

• Annotto Bay - Portable Patient Monitor for the Annotto Bay Hospital.

• Christiana - Provided Rhino water tanks to supply potable water to four schools in Christiana (Alston & Christina Primary, Cobblar ECI, & Devon Basics).

• Falmouth - Fencing of the Greenvale Basic School in keeping with the requirements of the Early Childhood Commission.

• Gayle - Assisted the PTA of Gayle Primary to purchase a 40ft container to be transformed into a computer lab.

• Junction - Controlling Litter: Rubbish Bins for the towns of Junction, Southfield, Prospect and Lititz. This was done in conjunction with the BB Coke High School Environmental Club.

• Maypen - Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities. This project provided new equipment to assist disabled adults increase their production of baked goods.

• Morant Bay - Solar water heaters for the St. Thomas Infirmary to have constant access to warm water.

• Savanna-la-Mar - Erection of a Bus Shed at Petersville to serve the primary school and the skills training centre.

• Spanish Town - Street name plates for Spanish Town in conjunction with the St. Catherine Parish Council.

The JNBS Foundation continues its work in supporting projects and programmes that contribute to national development in line with Vision 2030, for the improvement of Jamaicans and Jamaica.

Inside this issue:1 Your branch advisory council2 The Source, CRC programme3 Hope Botanical Gardens3 Junitavan Lagoon, Accompong4 Public access to de-fibrillation4 Point Hill diagnostic centre4 Partner Jamaica4 Violence prevention alliance

Jamaica National Building

Society Foundation

32 1/2 Duke Street

Kingston CSO

Phone: 876 922 4931

Fax: 876 922 4452

E mail: foundation@jnbs.com

Website: www.jnbs.com

your branch advisory council

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INNOVATING

INSPIRING

IMPACTING

TWO NEW SOURCE CRCs ON THE WAYsuppor t i ng economic and community development

AUGUST TOWN - THE PILOT

The Source Community Resource Centre programme is part of a continued drive by the Society to support economic growth and independence among Jamaica’s poorest and most disadvantaged communities. Developed through the Community Banking Unit and piloted in August Town, Kingston, the first Source opened its doors to the community on April 16th, 2007 and quickly became a hub of activity for residents, local businesses and community groups.

The Centre houses a state of the art wireless internet cafe, an audio visual room for training and meetings, and a community business office. The Source has facilitated community access to necessary and essential facilities previously unavailable to inner-city residents.

With the introduction of an Employment Brokerage Project funded by the UWI Township Project and the Society, residents with a desire and drive to enter the workforce are assigned a case worker who matches them with the right job. Over 50 residents have found employment through this project which means their families are now supported by a regular income earner!

Through in tense communi ty consultation held throughout the year, it became evident that residents wanted access to business services; including micro-finance. The Society responded to this request by partnering with the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC) who were able to outfit the casual meeting room at the Centre and turn it into a Business Information Centre; with residents able to hold business planning meetings remotely via skype and a webcam with the JBDC. JN Small Business Loans also responded to the request for access to micro-finance by visiting The Source every Tuesday morning to meet with residents and entrepreneurs. Within the first year alone, over 60 residents have accessed small business loans.

The Source CRC model is based on the re-emerging concept of the social enterprise. The issue of sustainability has been addressed through the gradual roll out of revenue-based services; ensuring continued income for the Centre with break even projected for April 09.

Due to the immense success of the Source in August Town, the JN Foundation is duplicating this programme in 2 new communities in 2008.

THE SOURCE, ST. ANN BY THE JN FOUNDATION AND THE ST. ANN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

On July 10, 2008 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce and the JN Foundation for the rollout of the

first The Source franchise. After p r o j e c t d e v e l o p m e n t a n d implementation, The Source will be handed over to the chamber, which will be responsible for its operation. Although this particular Source will also be developed through a collaborative effort between the Jamaica National Building Society Foundation and the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce, its main focus will be to increase membership of the Chamber and provide business support services that facilitate the growth and development of entrepreneurship in the parish. THE SOURCE, MARVERLY BY JAA

On July 3, 2008 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Marverly Consultative Committee, a community group who will be responsible for the operations of The Source Marverly by JAA once the Foundation has developed and handed it over to the community.

First anniversary celebrations at The Source, August Town

Jamaica National Building Society FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER, September 2008

HOPE BOTANICAL GARDENSsupporting the environment

As part of the revitalization of the Hope Botanical Gardens in Mona, Kingston, the Foundation funded the Natural Preservation Foundation to the amount of $3m over three years. The final amount was disbursed at the beginning of this year and contributed to ongoing operational costs.

The redevelopment of the gardens includes: the creation of a botanical museum, expansion of the plant nursery, a petting zoo, a redeveloped fountain garden, a restoration of the orchid house and the floral exhibits, a research centre and a farm education centre.

JN RESTORES ‘MAROON LAGOON’ supporting rural regeneration, environment, community, history and culture 

Some three hundred years ago, nestled in the hills and valleys of the cockpit country, the Junitavan Lagoon was a central feature of the community of braves now called the Accompong Maroons. The lagoon served as an area for recreational swimming, baptismal ceremonies, and other water-related activities. It was also a reserve for the indigenous mountain mullet fish which was a main staple of the Accompong Maroons.

This ecological treasure and unique feature of this Maroon community, like many natural resources has, over time, become damaged by a combination of severe weather, changing culture, and poor farming practices. However, in recognition of its integral role in environmental sustainability and preserving the culture of the Accompong Maroons, efforts are now underway to restore the silt-clogged lagoon.

“Junitavan’s preservation is integral to the continuity of social traditions started by the Maroon forefathers. And, the repopulation of its naturally occurring embankment and basin below will become the habitat for the mountain mullet and facilitate the reintroduction of a long-standing custom of subsistence fishing,” notes Robert Cawley, General Operations Manager at Original Trails of the Maroons, a community based organisation of the Accompong Maroon Council.

The first phase of the restoration project is being funded by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation and will be implemented by The Original Trails of the Maroons. The $871,000 excavation exercise will also include the replanting of vegetation around the 50-feet by 70-feet lagoon to stem further soil erosion of the surrounding hillside. The JNBS Foundation handed over the funds in a ceremony at Junitavan, Accompong on Monday, August 4.

General Manager of the JNBS Foundation, Saffrey Brown is optimistic that the restoration of the lagoon will help the group to realise the economic and social goals being pursued by the Council and adds that JN’s involvement in the Junitavan project is a natural fit with the organisation’s focus on rural regeneration, environment, community, history, and culture.

“The JNBS Foundation’s approach to rural regeneration is based on providing financial and technical assistance to help rural communities find solutions that improve their economic and social conditions. The Accompong Maroons carry such an important part of our history, identity, and pride, that we jumped at the opportunity to help them preserve it,” she says.

Impacting

Inspiring

Jamaica National Building Society FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER, September 2008

Sheldon Wallace, Maroon Council member, shows Saffrey Brown, General

Manager of the JN Foundation, the extent of the proposed dredging.

PUBLIC ACCESS TO

DEFIBRILLATION

supporting your health 

In October 2007, the JN Foundation in collaboration with the Heart Foundation of Jamaica launched a $2 Million Public Access to Defibrillation programme in order to provide the Jamaican public with access to life-saving equipment for use in heart-related emergencies. Ten defibrillators were placed in public areas including the Percy Junor Hospital, the Montego Bay Civic Centre, and select JNBS branches namely, Half-Way-Tree, Spanish Town, May Pen, Savanna-La-Mar, Linstead, Morant Bay, and Browns Town. The most recent donation was made to Bloomfield Great House in Mandeville on August 4th. Deborah Chen, Executive Director of The Heart Foundation noted, “We applaud the JNBS Foundation for taking this step to provide a potentially life-saving service to its members.

POINT HILL DIAGNOSTIC CENTREsupporting education

This year, the Point Hill Diagnostic Centre (PHDRC) in St. Catherine was the recipient of a $3 Million challenge grant to sustain its remedial literacy and numeracy classes and testing for underperforming primary school students in the community.

For the Point Hill community, the sustainability of the Centre is imperative as total reliance on the public school system has not been effective in significantly increasing the rate of literacy within the small district. “The school, which serves a total of seven neighbouring communities, received a rating of only 51 percent mastery in the 2005 Grade Four Literacy Test,” said Jane Taylor, Chairperson and Founder of the PHDRC.

“Additionally, the community is in the lowest quartile of the poverty index according to the 2002 Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions, and so we are trying to rebuild the foundation of a good, solid education in order to provide opportunities to raise the economic standards of our community and give the citizens hope,” Mrs. Taylor added. The funds will be distributed over three years.

PARTNER JAMAICAsupporting education

On May 1, 2008, the JNBS Foundation signed an agreement with USAID to pilot an innovative and self sustaining funding programme called Partner Jamaica. The goal of the initiative is to develop remittance philanthropy as a tool to advance national development through the funding of education in Jamaica. These resources will be strategically distributed to the organizations, schools and projects dedicated to

improving education throughout Jamaica.

VIOLENCE PREVENTION ALLIANCEcrime and safety

To encourage enhanced community relations with a view to quelling the levels of crime affecting Jamaicans, the Foundation pledged $3 Million to the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) for distribution over three years. The funds are assisting the VPA in implementing extensive work plans, which are geared towards increasing the success of violence prevention programmes in Jamaica. This includes projects in the areas of research and development, education and reporting, technical assistance for associated programmes, funding acquisition, policy development, and advocacy. Dr. Deanna Ashley, Executive Director of the VPA shared, “We are extremely happy that the JNBS Foundation is supporting the work of the Alliance, in identifying best practices for violence prevention interventions in Jamaica. We have always found JN to be a suppor t ive organ isat ion that recognises the importance and benefits of our work. ”

Jamaica National Building Society FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER, September 2008

YOUR COMMUNITY

YOUR IDEAS

Apply to your branch for funding for a local community projectApplications available inside your local JNBS branch or e mail foundation@jnbs.com

Saffrey Brown presents a defibrillator to Ralph

Pearce, proprietor of Bloomfield Great House.

Don’t forget to visit your Jamaica

National branch to apply for

funding for a local community

project. Application forms are also

available online at www.jnbs.com

You too can lead with ACTION!