R Danny Williams and wife, Shirley, walk hand-in-hand to this year's Jamaica Medical Foundation awards and fund-raising banquet. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Sitting in his office at Bamboo Lodge, Irish Town, R Danny Williams meticulously combs through a pile of papers - stopping finally at Jamaica College's (JC) staggeringly long list of annual expenses.

Nothing else today so clearly exhibits the consuming zeal of Williams to make a lasting difference in his country than what he is accomplishing as chairman of the Jamaica College School Board.

It is Williams' conviction that for JC to operate at any acceptable standard, the school will need at least $20 million each year, in addition to what is received from government and parents - and amassing that money is a major part of his commitment to the school.

JC receives from the government $10,500 for each of its 1,800 boys - just over $18 million for all the school's expenses for the year. In addition, government pays a basic cohort of teachers and auxiliary staff - but then that is it.

More evident

To highlight the situation the school faces, Williams started down his list and, as he named one expense after another, the gravity of the situation became more evident.

For the year, electricity costs $6 million; maintenance of the century old buildings costs $2 million; security, in today's Jamaica, costs $4 million; class materials - which, undoubtedly, are not even sufficient - cost $2 million; temporary and relief staff outside of what the ministry provides cost $4 million - that's already $18 million - even before one factors in a competitive sports programme for students at $7 million!

"And I haven't even mentioned welfare yet," Williams paused, before discussing his need of an extra $7 million to care for students in need.

"Over and above what the ministry gives us - the paying of the teachers and what they give us for school fees, and over and above what we're able to get from parents - some of whom don't think they should pay anything, we need another $20 million," the board chairman emphasised as he returned to the school's list of expenses.

Extra personnel

There are indeterminate expenses the school face each year to run staff-development and staff-incentive programmes; there are costs for seminars and ceremonies; extra personnel in guidance and counselling departments and extra personnel and equipment in the computer programme. There is a very high cost just for general, at times unexpected, maintenance of the antiquated buildings. According to Williams, replacing the roof on just one building recently cost the school over $4 million.

Having heard JC's dismal list of expenses that so monstrously tower above the funding guaranteed by the government, one can quickly understand one of the reasons why Williams has made the well-being of JC the great passion of his golden years.

"When I started to get involved and found out what the position was at Jamaica College, I was appalled," Williams shared as he began to explain his relationship.

Williams, who attended Jamaica College from 1946 to 1952, always had a deep longing to give back. "I've always felt that I owed the school something. That's where I made all my friends, and that's where I got my education."

Once given the opportunity to give back - starting in January 2006 when he was first appointed head of the school's board - Williams has been working with staggering fervour.

What has come to set Williams apart from others is how he interweaves his causes into his personal life - he is never on a break.

"I've never asked anybody to do something I'm not prepared to do," Williams declared.

Personal events

"My personal contribution to JC, in addition to all the time and effort and work I'm doing, is $10 million over a five-year period, and I'm not alone in that," he said.

Williams has even gone as far as having his personal events - like his 75th birthday party, which was celebrated on Saturday, July 4 - turned into opportunities for his friends and colleagues to make contributions.

"I'll be very honest with you, I don't want no presents. I don't want anybody give me no shirt and tie and socks," Williams said, as he explained why he and his family had decided to make JC the beneficiary of his 75th birthday. "We said, tell everybody who would like to give me a gift to make a contribution to the Jamaica College Foundation. I prefer to see the money go there than to see it going into something that I don't really need," Williams noted.

Thus far, Williams has been receiving tremendous support and it seems he will accomplish the massive feat of erecting a school auditorium at a whopping $90 million.

One of the greatest demonstrations of the point that Williams' success is due, not to his ability to fund needs from his own pocket, but to motivate others to do so, is that already he has collected $75 million of the $90 million of which one person, entrepreneur Karl Hendrickson, has donated $50 million.

andrew.wildes@gleanerjm.com

R Danny Williams goes over documents relating to Jamaica College in St Andrew.