Author Archives: Supreme Ventures

Supreme Ventures Limited President and CEO Ann-Dawn Young Sang recently took a team of her executives out of the boardroom and to the Courtyard by Marriott Kingston hotel for a lunch date with 10 Wolmer’s Preparatory School students.
The students, many of whom are being prepped for the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), welcomed the Jamaica Observer Applaud It! luncheon which allowed them the opportunity to break bread with executives and pick their brains while they were at it. And this they did, as the enquiring minds certainly held their own while engaging the executives in between a fabulous lunch courtesy of the Courtyard Marriott’s Executive Chef David Wellington.
Wellington welcomed the students with a well-appreciated ‘amuse bouche’ cups of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. This not only warmed them up but put them in relaxed mode for the fish croquette first course and the start of their etiquette lesson led by Jamaica Observer Senior Associate Editor – Lifestyle & Social Content and Applaud It! conceptualiser Novia McDonald-Whyte, the students got hands-on help with napkin placement, knife and fork use and general table manners. The activity was made fun as the Supreme Ventures team joined in to help the students seated next to them.
As the watermelon and feta salad was served, the youngsters began to share their career choices much to the amazement of the adults at the table. Tonique Rusell said she had her sights set on being a Stem Specialist while Jamaican junior swimmer Xavier Mardner intends to pursue a career in engineering. Wolmer’s Preparatory School Head Girl Rohanna Stanberry shared her dreams of becoming a doctor. “I know I can’t help everyone in the world, but if I can help one person it would mean the world to them,” she explained. In response to the children’s goals and aspirations, Supreme Ventures Vice President – Marketing, Communications and Sponsorship Gail Abrahams encouraged them to choose wisely. “When choosing your career, or a particular job, you need to look at who you are, what gives you that drive and what exactly it is you are passionate about, and then you can align yourself accordingly. If you want to be a doctor, but you don’t like to talk to people, that is definitely not the right job for you. Always try to say ‘this is my personality, this is what I love to do’, and then you choose a career that fits with your personality. You’re going to spend a lot of time at work, so you have to have that passion and drive for it.”
By the time the entrée made its way to the table, the students were fully engaged in more conversation about careers. Future veterinarian Jordan Samuels, when quizzed about his ability to care for pets, shared his experience with his only pet, a goldfish. As he recounted the story of the fish dying, he got into a friendly exchange with McDonald-Whyte which ended in laughter amongst everyone.
Chef David Wellington joined the group for an interactive dessert-making session with the students. In his introduction, the chef revealed that he was one of the youngest executive chefs in Jamaica to rounds of applause from the youngsters. “I started my journey at the age of 17. I left high school and went to the HEART Academy… after about six months in school, I started to work with a chef by the name of Oji Jaja, who instilled a lot of good principles in me,” shared Wellington. The chef, who once worked at Susie’s Bakery and the Knutsford Court Hotel, and was certified overseas at the Culinary Institute of America, finally found a home at the Courtyard by Marriott Kingston, where he started as a sous-chef and quickly moved up the ranks. Students Sameya Parkes and Xavier Mardner filled in as Wellington’s assistants as he prepared the luncheon’s signature dessert, the Sweet Trio, miniature red velvet parfait, traditional bread pudding and white chocolate cheesecake.
As the experience wrapped, Supreme Ventures Co-CEO – Gaming Operations Xesus Johnston said he was impressed by the young men at the table. “On average the graduates from The University of the West Indies, Mona have been 75 – 80% women. So when you think about the odds, chances are at least one or two of the young men here, even if they have dreams of going to university, may not get there or may not graduate… In Jamaica, in particular, our young men are at risk, and we’re at risk for a number of reasons, one, is not having the focus, not knowing what we want to do, not trusting our instincts, not having role models,” he said. “Young men here today, I am proud of you, because each of you had an ideal or a profession and you expressed yourself well, and I hope you achieve your goals. Young men, keep your backs straight, be polite… and be the best that you can be.”
Young-Sang meanwhile charged the young ladies at the table to be fearless in the pursuit of their dreams. “As females, you typically have to fight for what you want and you cannot be afraid,” she pronounced. “Anything is possible, once you set your mind to it…It does not matter where you start in life, you can be anything you want, my area started in finance and accounts, then led to me having IT responsibility. Before coming to Supreme Ventures, I was pursued, aggressively. I came because of the possibility of what I thought the company could do.” Young-Sang concluded, “These are the things that we do in terms of community-level type programmes… I’m giving you an open invitation, at the end of this, come and have a talk with us, I think that it is something that we need to do more and more. It is very self-fulfilling and very enriching.”
 
Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/thursday-life-food/applaud-it-supreme-ventures_180453?profile=1237

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Supreme Ventures says its Lotto jackpot of $45 million was won last evening.
The winning numbers are 06, 10, 11, 12, 21 and 33. The bonus ball was 13.
Supreme Ventures said the lucky ticket was purchased at JJ Mobile Phone & Company in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
This is the second Lotto jackpot hit in seven weeks. The previous winner copped $277 million on October 12, the second largest jackpot in two years.
The winner will have 90 days to come forward with the winning ticket in order to begin the process to claim their multimillion-dollar jackpot.
 
Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Spanish_Town_player_wins_$45-m_Lotto_jackpot_
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Source: http://jamaica-star.com/article/20191121/lucky-ticket-holder-hits-lotto-jackpot

 

The Supreme Ventures Foundation’s Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education, Youth & Information for the upgrading of fire safety equipment in children’s homes across the island is gaining momentum with the completed installation of new equipment in six homes, including two in the Mustard Seed Community.
So far, under the programme, equipment has been installed at six facilities — Yadel Home for Girls in Old Harbour; Strathmore Place of Safety in Spanish Town; Reddie’s Place of Safety in Kingston and Homestead Place of Safety in Stony Hill, St Andrew.
Two homes within the Mustard Seed Community, Sophia’s Place in Gordon Town and Mahoe Drive, have been fully installed with work on the Gift of Hope facility in Spur Tree, Manchester to begin shortly.
Under the MoU, which has a cap of $40 million over three years, 50 children’s homes will receive new fire safety equipment and supplemental training by the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

 
The agreement was signed between the SVF Chairman, Peter McConnell and then state Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, Floyd Green, earlier this year in the presence of critical stakeholders the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) and the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB).
The programme was launched by the foundation approximately one year to the date of the tragic fire at Walker’s Place of Safety that claimed the lives of two children.
SVF Director Heather Goldson says that after donating $10 million to the rebuilding of the Walker’s Place of Safety, the foundation sought to take more long-term steps to address the issue of fire safety in children’s homes which gave rise to the MoU.
“Children in State care are a key mandate for our foundation, so we feel compelled to assist in whatever way we can to improving the well-being of this vulnerable group. The spate of deadly fires in recent times prompted an in-depth assessment of the homes across the island to identify gaps in the fire safety preparedness, equipment and training. We want to play our part in improving this situation,” she said.
Goldson noted that while some of the homes already have fire equipment and underwent training by the Fire Brigade, there is the need to modernise and upgrade the systems that exist, as well as to reinforce the training of administrative staff and housemothers.
“We applaud the efforts of the government agencies and the Fire Brigade for what they have done so far, and we are humbled to be able to step in and boost their efforts, improving the systems and reinforcing the knowledge base of the housemothers and their teams. We visited Homestead recently and brought the Fire Brigade with us to meet with the housemothers there and they had so many questions about fire safety that were able to be addressed on the spot,” she said.
Work is slated to begin at four other homes — Elsie Bernard Home for Girls in Kingston; Maxfield Park Children’s Home; St Augustine Place of Safety and St Monica’s Girls Home. They are anticipated to be completed by the end of this year.
CEO of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Rosalee Gage-Grey says the assistance the programme offers comes at an opportune time.
“We are so grateful to the Supreme Ventures Foundation for stepping in at this time with a multifaceted programme that acknowledges that training is just as important as the fire alarm system itself. Fire safety is critical for every child and even more so for children in State care and this programme seeks to create a network of stakeholders working to ensure their preparedness in a fire emergency,” she said.
 
Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/supreme-ventures-foundation-s-fire-safety-mou-steps-up_179303?profile=1373
 

 

Supreme Ventures’ $277 million Lotto jackpot winner, B. Campbell will be smiling all the way to the bank this Christmas with the largest jackpot in two years and the third largest in Lotto history under his belt.
Campbell, who came to the SVG headquarters to collect his winnings dressed up as Santa Claus, secured the bag with winning numbers 03, 11, 18, 21, 29, 32 for draw #1619 on Saturday, October 12.
He said the numbers for his lucky ticket were randomly chosen in a rush.
Campbell said he does not have a formula for choosing his numbers other than purchasing several tickets for each draw.

Over 10,000 Jamaicans won small prizes from the draw, with Campbell being the sole winner of the jackpot with a ticket bought at Snoopy’s Wholesale and Gaming in Belfield, St Mary.
Campbell, who has purchased Lotto tickets since the game was introduced to Jamaica in 1994, says he always thought that he would win one day and is grateful for the windfall.
“Good money is hard to come by, clean decent money is hard to come by, so when you come into a good assistance like this you have to give God thanks,” he said.
The Lotto winner, who continues to buy his favourite SVG games, Lotto and Super Lotto – even after his lucky strike – says he checked his numbers in the paper days after the draw.
He revealed: “I was in the town and I bought the paper and saw the story about a St Mary winner and wonder why no one came for it. Then I said ‘wait, den mi nuh buy mi ticket?’ So, I sat down and checked the numbers and when I realized I won I said, ‘Praise God’.”
Campbell, who says he is still excited about the win, plans to use the funds for investment in business and real estate.
SVG Vice President, Marketing, Communication & Sponsorship, Gail Abrahams says the Group is ecstatic that a player has won.
“This is the third time that the Lotto jackpot was over $200 million, and we are happy that we have a winner for this mega jackpot. This is a life changing win and we are so happy that our winner came forward so quickly to collect the jackpot,” she said.
Winners of Supreme Ventures games, particularly the Lotto and Super Lotto games, have 90 days to come forward with the winning ticket in order to begin the process to claim their multimillion-dollar jackpot.
 
Source: http://www.loopjamaica.com/content/277-million-lotto-jackpot-puts-winner-holiday-spirit