The students, who are from communities located in Kingston, St Catherine and Clarendon, were awarded on August 12 at a graduation ceremony on the grounds of Food For The Poor located in Ellerslie Pen, St Catherine.
They were trained free of cost between July 21 and August 8 by Jeffrey Brown, Field Officer at Food For The Poor, with lessons for the: recorder, flute, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, bass drum, snare drum, drum and tri-tom.
David Mair, Executive Director for Food For The Poor, congratulated the students on committing to the objectives of the programme and gaining a skill in one area of the music industry.
“You are amongst a wonderfully chosen group of Jamaicans to have been taught how to play a musical instrument. Now that Food For The Poor has given you training and the instruments you were trained with, the onus is on you to materialize on your talent,” Mr Mair said.
Mr Mair went on to encourage the students to practice and actualise their musical talents.
Errol Lee, Founder & Manager of Bare Essentials Band, who was the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony, reiterated these hopes for the students. He told the participants that they were given a foundation on which they needed to build.
“All of you are very special,” Mr Lee said, “The reason why I say this is because, out of every 100 people in the world, only one can play music, and all 45 of you here can play music. Therefore, you are special.”
He further stated: “With what you have been taught in the last three weeks, do not sit in the background all the time. Materialize on what you have been taught. Try to expose yourselves to new things and don’t stick to one career choice. You can have more than one career with one being in the music industry,” Lee further stated.
Jeffrey Brown said all the students enrolled in the Summer Band Camp programme this year were encouraged to formulate a Food For The Poor Band.
In an effort to create this band, these 45 students will return to the grounds of Food For The Poor on the last Saturday each month to practise and better develop their musical talents and skills. They will also be given the opportunity to learn other musical instruments.
This year’s Food For The Poor Summer Band Camp hosted students between six and 16 years of age. Since the inception of the programme, more than 100 youth have been trained.
Contact: Ainsworth Morris, PROComm, Tel: 926-6740 or 5509330 OR
Petri-Ann Henry, Food for the Poor, Tel: 984-5005 or 564-288
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