Reading corner makes Labour Day project for staff

Maise Green Learning Centre got a Labour Day gift from General Accident Insurance Company (Jamaica) (GenAc) on Thursday, May 27, 2021.

The school in Grants Pen was gifted by the staff and executives of the Caribbean insurer with over 100 books and two custom-crafted bookshelves.

Lesley Miller (right), chief information officer at General Accident Insurance (Jamaica) Company (GenAc) talks about the generosity of the staff from crafting the bookshelves and donating the books with Charmaine Bennett, principal of Maise Green Learning Centre. Over 100 books and two bookshelves were handed over on Thursday, May 27, 2021 and were part of the company’s Labour Day project for the school.

The books, especially with the children not physically being at school, can be read to them over Zoom and get them engaged,” said Lesley Miller, chief information officer at GenAc.

Miller revealed that the custom bookshelves were made by Ronald Reid from the company’s facilities department. The donation included leisure and educational books, workbooks, charts, kid-sized puzzles and lesson playing cards.

“I really appreciated this help, again. Reading is really important to the children, and as we go through this difficult pandemic, I know they will enjoy the books,” said Maise Green Learning Centre Principal Charmaine Bennett.

GenAc’s Miller said the project went beyond doing something for Labour Day.

“Education and instilling the values of reading is important for the children and their development. This project is a labour of love,” she continued. “We put out the call to our staff and they donated books as well as the company purchasing over 60 books for the children to use.”

The company has supported and improved on the school since its adoption in 2017.

On Labour Day 2019, the staff donated their time to painting of classrooms, planting of a garden and tree trimming. In October 2020, the publicly traded insurance company donated an advanced desktop computer with an all-in-one unit with a built-in CPU and camera along with hand sanitiser and refillable dispensers, thermometers, masks and reusable cups, cutlery, and flatware among other items. The school also received help in the renovations of the kitchen facilities, and the newly appointed isolation room and was gifted with an industrial stove in April 2021.