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Several past students of the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) Alumni, New York Chapter, have donated more than J$400,000 to help with the funding of care packages for students who might be home without food following the forced closure of schools brought on by COVID-19.

President of the chapter, Donavan Wilson, said that a teacher, Dania Allen, had started the initiative initially to help the students in her class.

"It gradually ballooned into something bigger so she would, of course, need more help. I then reached out to my members and said, 'What can we do to help'," Wilson told THE STAR. "At first, persons were not thinking of the school, and I went back and said, 'Listen, I'm willing to put US$50, who wants to join me?' This was last Wednesday. Between the Wednesday and the Friday, we collected a total of US$3,000."

A Caring Teacher

Allen explained to THE STAR how she got involved.

"All my students have me on WhatsApp, and one of the students reached out to me privately and said her mother got laid off and it's been rough. Another student messaged and asked if I could sponsor them with a little food. Another asked if they could come and quarantine with me," she said.

"I started thinking to myself and said there is no way I can ask these kids to sign on and do work when they are hungry. So I got care packages for about 20 students in my class. Then I spoke to my principal and he said, 'I'm going to support you on this initiative', and it grew from there," Allen added.

Wilson said that he understood how difficult it could be for Jamaican high-school students.

"Since I left STETHS, I've always been involved in various alumni efforts to help the school. We in New York have always been assisting in any way that we can," he said.

Meanwhile, Keith Wellington, principal of STETHS, expressed gratitude for the donations being made by the past students and other entities to assist with funding of the programme.

"As a result, we have accumulated over J$1 million that we have been using to issue packages to these needy students in various communities," Wellington told THE STAR.

"We have a diverse population, with students from different socio-economic backgrounds, and when Ms Allen learnt of the difficulty some of our students were facing, as a school, we took the decision that we would support her in her efforts to help students in need," he added.

Wilson is also urging other past students to contribute during this time of crisis.

"We may contribute this money now, but this is going to be an ongoing thing, so I wanna reach out to STETHS past students, whether in Jamaica, US, Canada, to get in touch with Ms Allen or Mr Wellington and contribute, so that this effort can continue," he said.