One Jam Foundation Doing Good in Yaad
Jamaica, U.S.A (MPR Consulting) - The back-to-school season has just about concluded and many parents are tallying up the enormous expenses incurred in sending their young charges back to school. Fortunately for some parents, the music fraternity provided significant aid to offset some of the costs of going back to school. A number of artistes including Konshens and Cherine Anderson hosted back-to-school treats; however, the biggest of these treats appears to have been the One Jam Foundation/Tenament Yard treat for communities off Maxfield Avenue.
The treat held on August 20 brought out thousands of adults and children from impoverished inner city communities off the Maxfield such as Gem Road, William Road, Lincoln Ave, Villa, Trench Town, Jungle, and Rome. In addition to receiving well needed school supplies, attendees were treated to rides, games, and musical performances from household names such as Morgan's Heritage, Hezron, and Chuck Fender and from rising stars such as Abby Dallas and JayQ. Musical director of Morgan's Heritage and a longtime resident of the area, Producer DreZion, who coordinated the events on the ground, was overjoyed to see thousands of people out enjoying the festivities and partaking of the bountiful gifts on offer. The atmosphere was so jovial that a large police contingent headed by senior officers Steve McGregor and Fitz Bailey, who were amazed to see many people from rival communities living in love, came out to personally meet the organizers.
According to Lance Dyer, founder of The One Jam Foundation, "The treat was a resounding success. One Jam's and Tenament Yard's founders were both born and at least partially raised in the ghetto, so we understand the difficulties that many families in the ghetto face to get their children ready for each new school year. We also understand that education is one of the surest paths to elevation, so we think it is critical for us to support the ambitions of those who are less fortunate. We believe in giving, not just in giving back, so we are not going to wait until our organizations are successful to contribute from our own resources to a charitable cause. That said, we are exceedingly grateful to our sponsors such as MPR Consulting, Pepsi/Ocean Spray, COK Credit Union, and LIME Antigua and to artistes such as Morgan Heritage, Hezron, Chuck Fenda, I-Wayne, Abby Dallas, and JayQ who all agreed to perform voluntarily for the treat."