Jamaica Consulate General’s Community Service awards Ceremony to create focus on HIV/AIDS awareness

MIAMI – Six Jamaican nationals will be honored at the third annual Community Service Awards ceremony and Tea Party to be held on Sunday, April 19 at the Parrot Jungle Island in Miami.
The honorees will be recognized for their outstanding contributions and achievement in the South Florida Diaspora and also to Jamaica, in the fields of philanthropy, community service, Diaspora and Consular service, business enterprise and social development, public service and youth leadership and scholastic achievement.

The recipients will include Mrs. Marie Buteau, President of the Good Shepherd Foundation of South Florida in the area of philanthropy, Mrs. Kaye Chong, Community Relations Manager of Air Jamaica Limited and founder of the Air Jamaica Kids’ Club for community service; retired Honorary Consul for the Cayman Islands, Captain Robert Hamaty for Diaspora and Consular Service; George Yap, Chief Executive Officer and entrepreneur of LEASA Industries for business and social development, the Hon. Hazelle Rogers, State Representative in the Florida State House of Representatives for public service, and John-Henry Marley for scholastic achievement and youth leadership.

In addition, for the first time, an award will be presented to a community-based organization with an active charitable programme which assists the lives of persons affected with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica.

This year, the institutional award will be presented to the Friends of Good Shepherd Mobay, Incorporated (FOGS) in direct relation to the charitable support provided by the Friends of Good Shepherd Foundation to those affected with HIV/AIDS at the Hope Hospice in Albion, Montego Bay. The Hospice is dedicated to HIV/AIDS education and intervention projects.

This year, the special guest at the event will be Ms. Sheryl Lee Ralph, renowned Jamaican born actress and philanthropist, and founder of the DIVA Foundation, a national non-profit organization created to bring awareness to the prevention of the disease. Ms. Ralph has done a lot of work internationally, in this regard.

According to Consul General Sandra Griffiths, this year’s event promises to be even more meaningful with support given to the outstanding charitable endeavor. “It is anticipated that the synergies between Ms. Ralph’s activism in this area through her DIVA Foundation and the focus of the Community Service award on charitable intervention of a community based organization will generate resources and coordinated activities to promote a deeper awareness in Jamaica, South Florida and beyond, of the significant threat this disease poses to the well-being and development of our societies,” she continued.

Lauding the efforts of the honorees, the Consul General said that the Government continues to acknowledge the commitment of Jamaicans in the Diaspora and their contribution over the years to the development of their homeland, and to their respective communities in which they reside abroad.