By Howard Walker, Staff ReporterFIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL Bank, through its inaugural Unsung Heroes Programme, is seeking to unearth ordinary, hardworking, low-profile nation-builders across the region.
The programme was launched yesterday at the Hilton Kingston Hotel.
FirstCaribbean says as part of its second anniversary celebrations scheduled for October 14, it will honour "all that is good, strong and resilient about the people of the region".
"We will seek to identify the unsung heroes amongst us who have distinguished themselves through their community service and who, through their hard work and selflessness, enhance the quality of life," said Cecile Watson, director of retail banking at FirstCaribbean.
NATIONAL ATTENTION
"In every society, there are individuals and groups who over the years have made outstanding contributions to their communities and wider society but have not attracted much national attention," said Al Webb, chairman of the Unsung Heroes Committee. "It is these unsung heroes we wish to identify," he added.
Last year the programme was piloted in the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize and St. Lucia and according to Mrs. Watson, the bank is very excited and believes it is important to every community in Jamaica.
"We had a very successful pilot run and now we are ready to launch the programme across the 15 countries in which FirstCaribbean operates," she said.
The programme will seek out and acknowledge those persons who play an invaluable role in improving their communities and who went about it without consideration for reward or acclaim.
The public and FirstCaribbean employees are encouraged to nominate individuals from their communities as nominations close on July 30. Local finalists will be announced in October and the regional 'unsung hero' will be announced in November.
A selection committee of seven persons, including a chairman, three from the bank and three externally, will choose from the nominees three heroes who will receive a trophy and US$6,000 ($360,000) each.
These three persons will be forwarded to the larger Caribbean regional committee where a Caribbean hero will be selected annually and a larger regional prize presented.
On October 14, 2002, Barclays Bank, based in the United Kingdom, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), based in Canada, combined their retail corporate and offshore Caribbean banking operations and launched FirstCaribbean International Bank.
FirstCaribbean now operates in 13 Caribbean countries employing over 3,000 persons with total assets of about US$9.5 billion and a market capitalisation of approximately US$2 billion.
