Western Bureau:

Members of the Montego Bay business and philanthropic community came out in support of the initiative by the Wise Women Club to raise funds towards college education for youths.

The group of eight women hosted an entertaining affair on the Club Terrace of the beautiful Doctor's Cave Beach in Montego Bay recently. According to club member Rita Hilton, seven youths have so far benefited from the Wise Women Club's contribution towards their tertiary education.

"We chose to fund tertiary education as we believe that the primary and secondary level has enough support system in place, such as the government and other donor agencies.We want to contribute towards tertiary because it is so expensive," a soft-spoken Hilton explained.

Success stories

While the club does not fund the entire tuition costs, it offers students a start by paying for their first term of college fees. Hilton highlighted one of their success stories - an orphaned young woman who wanted to attend teachers' college but who, at age 18, no longer received help from the government. When the Wise Women Club was contacted by a Child Development Agency officer and informed of the circumstances, they intervened and paid for hersecond year of tuition.

The cocktail function saw close to 200 attendees at a contribution of $2,000 each.

sheena.gayle@gleanerjm.com