There were fun scenes in the boardroom of the London School of Economics (LSE) last Tuesday as students held a high speed auction to raise even more for their Educate the Children appeal.
And what was the auction item in question that had bidders whipped into a frenzy for roughly seven minutes? You guessed it – a bottle of precious Barbadian rum! It was just the one bottle mind you – but it went for an impressive £57.
That was more than enough to tope the Educate the Children fund’s brand new target of £3,000.
When the Gleaner ran a story of the launching back in March this year, Lascelles Hudson and Joe Issa of the LSE’s Student’s Union, put the target at £2,000. But in the ensuing two months of raffle ticket-selling and donations, the students raised £2,950. Last Tuesday’s auction was to round off the figure, but with more monies yet to be collected, it looks as if the needy school children in Jamaica will benefit even further.
Present at the auction and drawing of raffle prizes were Mayor of Lambeth, Kingsley Smith who gave the feature address, Dr. I. G Patel, director of the LSE who drew the second and third prizes, and Deputy High Commissioner of Jamaica, Douglas Saunders, who drew the first prize winner.
The coveted first prize of a ten day trip for two to Hedonism in Jamaica (courtesy of British Airways, Virgin and Superclubs) went to Ulna Blair.
The Students Union members involved in the school book project come from all over the Caribbean and elsewhere. Said Lascelles, “we could have generated more interest inside the LSE earlier, but everyone was just so busy with exams. But in the last week or so, people have come to us. Educate the Children is here to stay.”
Who benefits?
The Educate The Children book project is a collaboration between the LSE, the Jamaican Government and the Daily Gleaner in Jamaica.
There is a shortage of school books in the island and the scheme involves the printing of English and Math books in the newspaper so that each child who falls under the project can readily obtain the necessary text books.
The organizers have used data from the Ministry of Education in Jamaica to come up with the five schools, island-wide that are the most needy. These are: The Norman Gardens All Age in Kingstom; the Top Jackson All Age, Catherine; Ballards Valley All Age, St. Elizabeth; Hillside All Age, St. Mary; and Ecclesden All Age, St. Ann.
Once the money has been collected, and cheque presentation made, allocation will be in the hands of the ministry and it is hoped the schools will benefit by the end of the year.
Jamaica was chosen as the 1987 recipient as it celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Next year, Dominica and St. Kitts will be looked at.
THE WINNERS:
Ulna Blair – Trip for two to Jamaica
- Ulna Blair – Trip for two to Jamaica
- Five second prizes of Red Stripe Beer went to: Yvonne Ambrose, Mr. Green, Gabrielle Chiesa, Miss S Gulrajani and Monica Rumkumar.
- Ten third prizes of Ray Miles/CM Associates T-shirt.
Thanks to all Weekly Gleaner readers who contributed to the appeal by purchasing raffle tickets through the forms printed in this paper.
The presentation of prizes will be made to the lucky winners later this month.
Source: The Gleaner
