As a means of further enhancing our poverty alleviation efforts by strengthening  community interventions, JSIF has actively sought to forge partnerships with the private sector. The initiative has had moderate success as, to date, we have successfully partnered with two private sector entities, namely, the Digicel and Desnoes & Geddes Foundations to implement community projects. Other private sector organizations are invited to come on board with us. JSIF is particularly keen on collaborations that result in improvements in the education sector - lending support to basic, infant, primary and all age schools.

Digicel Foundation

As a direct result of this new thrust, in 2004, JSIF collaborated with the Digicel Foundation in the construction and equipping of the Lakes Pen Basic School in St. Catherine. The project was completed in November at a cost of J$9.8 million. The fifty students and three members of staff at the school are now benefiting from a new, fully equipped three-classroom building with kitchen and sanitary facilities as well as playground equipment.

JSIF again partnered with the Digicel Foundation in 2006 to build a new basic school, in Montpelier, St. Elizabeth at a cost of $9.6 million. The project involved the construction of a three-classroom building with sanitary facilities and a sick bay.

In both instances, the Digicel Foundation provided funding for the projects, while JSIF provided technical expertise in the form of procurement of all goods and services and overall supervision of the construction process.

The Digicel Foundation is a non-profit organization that distributes and utilizes funds on a charitable basis for the purpose of building communities and community spirit in

Visit the Digicel Foundation Website at www.digicelfoundation.org

Desnoes & Geddes Foundation

In February 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Desnoes & Geddes Foundation was signed, thereby concretizing the collaborative effort between the Foundation and JSIF. Under the terms of the MoU, the Foundation committed to contribute

J$4 million towards assisting in the funding of Rapid Impact Projects under the Inner City Basic Services Project (ICBSP).The targeted communities include Flankers in St. James, Knollis in St. Catherine and Bucknor in Clarendon.

The Desnoes & Geddes Foundation is the charitable arm of Red Stripe. Their mission is: “Impacting Lives, Enriching Communities.” The Foundation was formed exclusively for the purpose of carrying out charitable projects aimed at relieving poverty, suffering and distress among Jamaicans.