The Supreme Ventures Foundation is bringing fun and games to children’s homes across the Corporate Area with a donation of games, books and art supplies to six homes.
The first stop was made at the Elsie Bernard Home for Girls, where the SVF team headed by Prime Sports Jamaica Ltd CEO, Xesus Johnston, dropped off several items to help the girls cope during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Gifts were also dropped off at the Glenhope Nursery and Children’s Home, Sunbeam Home for Boys in Old Harbour, Blossom Gardens Children’s Home in Montego Bay and the children of the Jamaica National Children’s Home.
Since March 10, when Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the closure of schools to protect the student population from the local spread of the coronavirus, the girls have not been allowed to leave the home or accept visits from outsiders.
The donation is aimed at giving the wards fun activities to do while staying indoors.
“Children in state care are a major focus for our foundation and we seek to address as many needs as we can. Fun is a part of the Supreme lifestyle and we want to share it with these children. The lockdown has been hard on everyone and we wanted to give them an opportunity to de-stress and enjoy this quiet time with this fun donation,” he said.
The toy contribution is the third outreach activity by the gaming group for state-run homes during Child’s Month. Through the foundation, Supreme has donated much needed appliances to the Maxfield Park Children’s home.
The foundation also treated house mothers and caregivers at five other children’s homes to Mother’s Day gifts. House mothers at Glenhope Nursery and Children’s Home, Homestead Place of Safety, which also houses wards from the Jamaica National Children’s Home, Reddie’s Place of Safety and Strathmore Garden’s Children’s Home were gifted with locally made self-care packages.
Heather Goldson, director of the Supreme Ventures Foundation said the foundation is committed to addressing as many facets of state-run childcare as possible.
“We work very closely with the homes, so we have a good grasp of the work that goes into caring for these children and what their needs are. As such, we strive to make our donations as needs-based as possible; our major medical supplies donation to assist with preparing the homes for the impact of COVID-19 is a good example of this,” she said.
“We take our supportive role very seriously, so while we look at major issues such as fire safety, we also pay attention to other sensitive concerns such as the need for the children to remain occupied during this challenging time.” she added.
The homes touched by the SVF’s recent slate of donations are also beneficiaries of a $40 million Fire Safety MOU funded by the foundation and executed in conjunction with Government agencies, particularly the Ministry of Youth, Education and Information and the Jamaica Fire Brigade.
Source: https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/supreme-ventures-brings-fun-another-childs-month-donation
Supreme Ventures, PSOJ Team Up To Assist Gregory Park Residents
SUPREME VENTURES Group (SVG) Executive Chairman Gary Peart led a team through the streets of Gregory Park, St Catherine, as part of COVID-19 relief efforts orchestrated by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) to support struggling communities through the economic downturn caused by the global pandemic.
SVG donated to the effort dubbed ‘PSOJ Cares Partnership’, which involves local corporations donating money to the PSOJ that would, with the assistance of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), deliver care packages of basic food items to vulnerable communities over several weeks.
The group participated in the first donation in Gregory Park since coming on board as a partner to show support to the residents, many of whom visit or maintain a livelihood from the operations at Caymanas Track that has been closed for two months as a result of the local spread of COVID-19.
With the pending June reopening of Caymanas Track and the resumption of racing, Peart says the outreach opportunity was perfectly aligned with the group’s vision.
RELIEF EFFORTS
“The closure of Caymanas Park to preserve public safety has taken a serious toll on the livelihood of several families in the surrounding areas who make their living either working at the track or with racing stakeholders or just selling goods and services on race days. We came on board because we saw where the PSOJ’s programme aligned with our desire to provide relief efforts in the Gregory Park area and other communities,” he said.
Peart says the team, which included Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited’s General Manager Lorna Gooden, wanted to personally show their support to the community and the PSOJ.
According to Gooden, several safety measures, which will ultimately be approved by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, will be put in place to allow for patrons to enjoy the sport when racing returns. “We will be ready for the resumption of racing, but at the same time, we do not want to erode the progress we’ve made as a nation in the containment of the coronavirus. All our sanitary conveniences will be ready to facilitate frequent handwashing and the approved number of patrons will be spaced out to allow for reasonable social distancing.”
The relief will be extended to Gregory Park and several other communities in the St Catherine area identified by the JCF as particularly vulnerable due to movement restrictions and reduced economic activity. The relief includes a bag of basic food items and will be distributed over the course of at least eight weeks.
Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20200529/supreme-ventures-psoj-team-assist-gregory-park-residents
Other Sources:
Loop Jamaica
https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/supreme-ventures-and-psoj-team-bring-relief-gregory-park
Something Extra | Wednesday
A masked team from the Supreme Ventures Foundation (SVF), while maintaining physical distancing, presented gifts to the house mothers in children’s home in the Corporate Area. It was a four-day activation that saw almost 80 house mothers receiving gifts for Mother’s Day. Supreme Ventures vice-president of marketing, communications and sponsorships, Gail Abrahams, says the foundation wanted to show appreciation to the hard-working caregivers who are looking after the children in state care.
The SVF team started their Mother’s Day surprises at Glenhope Nursery and Children’s Home on Maxfield Avenue, where they handed over packages with organic locally made products from Morgan’s Creek Limited. Packages were also dropped off at Homestead Place of Safety, which also houses wards from the Jamaica National Children’s Home, Reddie’s Place of Safety, and Strathmore Garden’s Children’s Home.
Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/social/20200520/something-extra-wednesday
Supreme Ventures takes Read Across Jamaica Day to social media
SUPREME Ventures Foundation (SVF) — the outreach arm of gaming company Supreme Ventures Limited — took its annual Read Across Jamaica activities to social media this year as the country and the world continue to grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, Supreme Ventures executives visited Greenwich Primary School on Spanish Town Road in Kingston and read to students from grades one to six, making a significant contribution to the school’s literacy programme.
This year, with schools closed and access to State-run childcare facilities restricted, SVF took its literacy promotion efforts to its revamped Instagram page and its Facebook page.
Media personalities and social media influencers Terri-Karelle Reid and Emprezz Golding joined the SVF Instragram event live from their homes.
Gail Abrahams, vice-president, marketing, communication and sponsorship, led the activity from the SVL boardroom in New Kingston. She read Chase is on the Case, a Paw Patrol storybook, to the thousands of viewers who joined from their smart devices.
According to Abrahams, it was important for SVF to make an effort activating activities within its outreach calendar even in light of the pandemic and strict rules implemented to stymie its spread.
“The foundation usually has a packed calendar that mainly impacts and benefits children in State care or who live in under challenging circumstances; as such, we thought it very important to find a way to connect with them,” said Abrahams.
“Usually we would be sitting in a circle reading and spending time together, but we take social distancing very seriously so we found a way to keep our activities going with the use of technology,” added Abrahams.
SVF also donated two large appliances to Maxfield Park Children’s Home — an industrial freezer and a dryer for its laundry room. The children’s home, which has a child population of over 100, reached out for help when its appliances ceased functioning in April.
The foundation has a long history of outreach with the Corporate Area-based children’s home and installed a $3-million fire alarm system on the compound in February.
Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/supreme-ventures-takes-read-across-jamaica-day-to-social-media_193925
SVL partners with Sagicor to offer health coverage to retailers
Supreme Ventures has partnered with Sagicor to provide health insurance for its 1,000 strong retailer network amid the local spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Under the partnership, registered SVL retailers will be able to access health insurance at a reduced cost for themselves, their families and their employees.
CEO of Prime Sports Jamaica Limited, the subsidiary with responsibility for the SVL retail network, Xesus Johnston says the initiative was in train but negotiations were fast-tracked in light of the local spread of COVID-19.
“We had commenced negotiations regarding the execution of the plan earlier this year, but once it was announced that coronavirus had made landfall in the island, we decided to speed up those talks so that our retailers could be covered under the plan as soon as possible,” he said.
With this new health coverage plan, retailers will be asked to pay a minimal fee to cover their family and employees. The fee will be deducted from their monthly settlements to SVL and sent to Sagicor on their behalf.
Johnston says the programme will lessen the cost of health insurance for retailers, and allow them to receive more coverage for themselves and their team.
“These are challenging times, Jamaica is in the middle of a health crisis and it is having a profound negative effect on revenues for all businesses, our retailers included. We wanted to have this plan implemented immediately so it would remove some of that burden and allow them to adequately cover themselves and their employees,” he said.
Willard Brown, Executive Vice President, Sagicor Life Jamaica, congratulated SVL for its progressive step towards providing for the healthcare needs of one of its key stakeholder groups, particularly during the current crisis.
He noted that this partnership represents a consistent focus by Sagicor Life to expand its health coverage to traditionally underserved sections of the Jamaican population.
“We are happy to deepen our partnership with Supreme Ventures Limited and recognize this move as a meaningful step in the overall health and wellbeing of our society. At Sagicor, we are committed to playing our role to be part of a national solution for the delivery of health services by assisting people to obtain the necessary financing,” Brown said.
Supreme Ventures operates its lottery and sports betting brands chiefly through its network of 1,000 active retailers islandwide.
Most retailers operate other small businesses alongside their SVL terminals, and some have been forced to close their doors after the Government of Jamaica ordered the closure of non-essential businesses and explicitly, places of entertainment in an effort to stem the local spread of the virus.
Source: https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/svl-partners-sagicor-offer-health-coverage-retailers