Jamaica’s Consul General announces 2014 Diaspora Community Honours – for Gala presentation

SOUTH FLORIDA  – Jamaica’s Consul General Franz Hall has announced the Consulate’s Diaspora Honours for 2014 with ten (10) persons being recognized for their outstanding contributions in various areas of community development in South Florida.

Diaspora Community Service awards were presented to Victoria Mutual Building Society corporate executive, Ms. Suzette Rochester – Business Leadership; South Florida entrepreneur, Ms. Patricia M. Lee – Public Service; Dr. Fidel Goldson, Jr. – Philanthropy; educator Rupert Rhodd, PhD. – Education; veteran radio broadcaster, Howard Duperly – Media; attorney George Crimarco – Law and Justice; accountant and community activist, Leary Mullings – Entrepreneurship; President of Jamaica International Female Football Development, Ms. Lavern Deer – Sports Development, and Broward County student and community volunteer, Adam Azan – Youth Leadership.

A Special Community Merit Honour was awarded to Lloyd Finlay, owner and veteran business leader of Finlay’s Shipping, for his long standing commitment and humanitarian efforts to community enrichment across the South Florida community and to Jamaica.

The presentation of plaques and citations will take place at the Jamaica Independence Anniversary Gala and Diaspora Honours “Coming Together… …Achieving More” presented under the auspices of the Consulate General and the Jamaica United Relief Association (JURA), a community-based charitable organization, on Saturday (Aug.2) commencing at 7:00 p.m. at the Signature Grand in Davie.           Extending congratulations, Consul General Franz Hall emphasized that the awardees “are exemplars of the type of contribution that Jamaicans in the Diaspora can make to the development of their adopted communities in their diverse fields of endeavour. We therefore salute their achievements and their positive impact on the continued development of South Florida.”

Based on approved criteria, a selection committee appointed by the Consul General evaluated and approved the final selection of awardees from the number of nominations received.

Tickets to the event are $80 each and are available at JURA’s secured PayPal account: www.jurainc.org .  Checks should be made payable to Jamaica United Relief Association (JURA) or the Consulate General of Jamaica, and mailed to the Consulate’s office at 25 SE Second Avenue – Suite 609 Miami, FL 33131. For further information contact 305-374-8431 ext. 232 or 954-394-2483.

                Sponsors are the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Food for the Poor, Baptist Health South Florida, Sandals Resorts, Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS), Jamaica National Overseas (USA), Seafreight Agencies (USA), Inc., JetBlue and Bank of America.