Children's
Outreach Group Honours Four
Published: Friday | December 17, 2010
The Children
of Jamaica Outreach (COJO) has honoured four partner organisations
which have supported its philanthropic activities over the past 16
years.
The awardees,
special guests at the COJO annual awards dinner in New York on December
4, were The Daily News; Cathleen Decker, VP Lou Hammond & Associates,
which represents a major Jamaican hotel chain; Sharon Locke, founder
of the New York-based Practical Solutions, an accounting firm and,
Ruder Finn, the public-relations agency of record for the Jamaica
Tourist Board.
The support of
these companies, according to COJO founder/chairman, Gary Williams,
has helped the volunteer-driven organisation to assist a number of
institutions in Jamaica and the United States, including the Alpha
Boys' Home; Glenhope Place of Safety; Marigold Child Care Centre;
Musgrave Girls' Home; City of Refuge and Summerfield Boys' Home in
Jamaica and in New York, the Jamaica Queens YMCA and Leaf of Life.
Williams also
thanked a number of other corporate entities, including JetBlue which
donated airline tickets as raffle prizes and The Jamaica Pegasus hotel
and other Jamaican properties which provided prizes of hotel accommodation.
Jamaican radio
talk-show host, Barbara Gloudon, guest speaker at the event, praised
COJO and its partners for "the sterling work they do on behalf
of Jamaica's children".
She said that
"all deserved commendation for sharing their money and their
time with the less privileged" and urged those in the US to visit
with the children from the beneficiary homes when next they are in
Jamaica.