Teino Evans, Staff Reporter
Freddie McGregor of Big Ship Record (left) hands over a cheque and plaque to Claney Barnett, principal of Haile Selassie High School, at a reception held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston this year. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
AS THEY rise from ghetto hardships to the comfortable lifestyle that success in music brings, some artistes are aware of the importance of giving back to their communities and helping the less fortunate.
From dancehall deejays to gospel artistes, many have done charity work across the island, as well as contributed in cash and kind.
In 2004, Sean Paul donated a one-off tidy sum of $5 million to charitable organisations across the island, to assist in the Hurricane Ivan relief effort. The Grammy-winning deejay said he considered it as only giving back to his country, as it was the
people of Jamaica who had helped to put him where he was.
ABLE TO GIVE BACK
"I really feel proud that I am able to do this, it's Jamaican people who have put me on the map and now it's good to come full circle and be able to give back. For a small nation we have accomplished a lot an when mi check it out, Laad, nuh weh nuh betta dan yaad," he said in an earlier interview with The Gleaner.
Among the five organisations that benefited from Sean Paul's kind hand were Missionaries of the Poor, Food for the Poor, Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre, Munro and Dickenson Trust (responsible for Munro College and Hampton School), Wolmer's Boys' and the Jamaica National Children's Home. Each organisation received $1 million, with the exception of the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre and the Wolmer's Boys School, which received $500,000 each.
Freddy McGregor, who has also been dedicated to charity work for a number of years, has extended the scope of his commitment. He said he had established his own charity organisation abroad. "I myself have a charity that has been set up since 1986 called The Freddy McGregor's Children Fund, located in Birmingham, England. I was a more popular artiste back then in England and because of the overwhelming reception that I received while on tour there I wanted to give something back to the city, because all my shows were completely sold out. I donated the first £1,000," McGregor said.
Since then, McGregor said he had been able to send aid to countries in Africa, such as Gambia and Ghana. Locally, McGregor has also been busy seeking to raise funds to assist various institutions and his
current project is at the Haile Selassie High School.
"The school needs renovation. It is very rundown at the moment and we are trying to raise funds. With the recently held King of Kings Concert we donated half a million dollars to the school. We are currently fencing the parameter," McGregor said.
McGregor said he was also in contact with an associate of world famous comedian, Steve Harvey, in seeking to get further assistance for his project. "I'm now in contact with someone who works with Steve Harvey, who recently adopted quite a few schools (about 20) here in Jamaica, and they have promised some assistance as well," McGregor said.
For McGregor, this kind of charity work leaves a good feeling within, as he said "this is something that I'm real proud of, it's a positive step? That's not the only facility (The Haile Selassie High School) that I'm looking at though, but we have to take them one at a time".
In recent times, gospel artistes, Bless, Papa San, Judy Mowatt, Stitchie, Goddy Goddy and others have also sought to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate, some of them forming steady outreach ministries that makes a difference in inner-city communities. Calvin 'Bless' Wilby, founder and CEO of the Radikal Communications Group, spoke about 'Operation Save Jamaica', one of the outreach projects the organisation has going. "We go in inner-city communities like Maxfield and Trench Town, just to name a few, and we give out food and clothing," he said.
