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Olympic and World champion Usain Bolt, Jamaica’s most decorated athlete, has partnered with the Jamaica National Foundation, through his Usain Bolt Foundation, to host the third staging of the Heroes in Act!on Run/Walk.

“I’m happy to be partnering with the JN Foundation to stage this initiative, which will this year benefit the Trelawny Infirmary,” Bolt said.

“Our elders and senior citizens are to be cherished. Without their endless sacrifice during our early years, we wouldn’t be capable of what we are doing today,” he said, pointing out the need for us to now care for them.

The proceeds from the event, which will take place under the theme ,’Run For Our Heroes’, will be donated to the institution in Falmouth to upgrade and refurbish the facility, which houses some 62 senior citizens.

“I urge everyone to come on board and join us to run for a worthy cause. Please sign up to participate by October 11,” he appealed.

Saffrey Brown, general manager, JN Foundation, said this year’s theme is very significant with the focus being placed on improving the home for the elderly. She added that the Usain Bolt Foundation has been partnering with Jamaica National from the inception of the run three years ago.

“We are happy for this partnership. The Usain Bolt Foundation and the JN Foundation have similar values as we impact, inspire, and innovate. Our work is to focus on creating opportunities through education and cultural development for a positive change,” she said.

Post-run celebration

The run/walk will be held on Sunday, October 15, starting at the Falmouth Cruise Port at 7 a.m. The post-run celebration, featuring an awards ceremony, will be held at the same venue.

This year’s event will have participants engaged in either a 4K Fun Run or a 10K Run. The 4K Fun Run, geared towards the family, is designed for walkers and runners, showcasing four fun obstacles along the route that children can also enjoy. Experienced and non-experienced runners can also enjoy the 4K Fun Run challenge.

The 10K Run, however, is targeting more experienced runners, a great pre-event for runners interested in participating in marathon races later this year. Speed walkers may opt to participate in the 10K Run.

Persons can visit the JN Foundation and Running Events websites at www.www.jnfoundation.com or www.runningeventsja.com to view the route maps and also register. Participants can also register at any JN Bank branch or JN MoneyShop across the country.

Individual forms are to be submitted before the close of registration at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11.

The event will culminate in a post-run celebration featuring Ding Dong, Kevin Downswell, and an awards ceremony.

The event is endorsed by the Ministries of Health, Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. Gatorade, Digicel and Puma, Bolt’s sponsors over the years, are among 10 sponsors.

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KINGSTON, Jamaica — Olympic and world champion, Usain Bolt, through his foundation, has partnered with the Jamaica National (JN) Foundation,  to host the third staging of the Heroes in Action Run/Walk.

The proceeds from the event, which will take place under the theme “Run For Our Heroes,” will be donated to the Trelawny Infirmary in Falmouth, to upgrade and refurbish the facility that houses some 62 senior citizens.

“Our elders and senior citizens are to be cherished. Without their endless sacrifice during our early years, we wouldn’t be capable of what we are doing today,” Usain Bolt was quoted as saying in a release from JN today.

General manager of the JN Foundation, Saffrey Brown said that this year’s theme is very significant, with the focus being placed on improving the home for the elderly.

“We are happy for this partnership. The Usain Bolt Foundation and the JN Foundation have similar values as we impact, inspire and innovate. Our work is focus on creating opportunities through education and cultural development for a positive change,” she said.

JN said the run/walk will be held on Sunday, October 15 and will start from the Falmouth Cruise Port at 7:00 am. The post-run celebration, featuring an awards ceremony, will be held at the same venue.

JN Foundation said the Ministries of Health and Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport have endorsed the event. Among the 10 sponsors are: Gatorade, Digicel and Puma, who have been Bolt’s sponsors over the years.

See the full article here!

Many-time World and Olympic champion Usain Bolt has partnered with the Jamaica National Foundation, through his Usain Bolt Foundation, to host the third staging of the Heroes in Act!on Run/Walk.

“I’m happy to be partnering with the JN Foundation to stage this initiative, which will this year benefit the Trelawny Infirmary,” Bolt said.

“Our elders and senior citizens are to be cherished. Without their endless sacrifice during our early years, we wouldn’t be capable of what we are doing today,” he said pointing out the need for us to now care for them.

The proceeds from the event, which will take place under the theme “Run For Our Heroes,” will be donated to the institution in Falmouth, to upgrade and refurbish the facility, which houses some 62 senior citizens.

“I urge everyone to come on board and join us to run for a worthy cause. Please sign up to participate by October 11,” he appealed.

Saffrey Brown, general manager of the JN Foundation, said that this year’s theme is very significant, with the focus being placed on improving the home for the elderly. She also added that the Usain Bolt Foundation has been partnering with Jamaica National from the inception of the Run three years ago.

HAPPY FOR PARTNERSHIP
“We are happy for this partnership. The Usain Bolt Foundation and the JN Foundation have similar values as we impact, inspire, and innovate. Our work is focused on creating opportunities through education and cultural development for a positive change,” she said.

The run/walk will be held on Sunday, October 15, and will start from the Falmouth Cruise Port at 7 a.m. The post-run celebration, featuring an awards ceremony, will be held at the same venue.

This year’s event will have participants engaged in either a 4K Fun Run or a 10K Run. The 4K Fun Run, which is geared towards the family, is designed for both walkers and runners and will showcase four fun obstacles along the route that small children can also enjoy.

The 10K Run, however, is targeting more experienced runners and is a great pre-event for runners interested in participating in marathon races set for later this year. Speed walkers may opt to participate in the 10K Run.

Persons can visit the JN Foundation and Running Events websites at www.www.jnfoundation.com or www.runningeventsja.com to view the route maps and also register. Participants can also register at any JN Bank branch or JN MoneyShop, across the country.

Individual forms are to be submitted before the close of registration at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11, 2017.

The event is endorsed by the Ministries of Health and Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. Meanwhile, Gatorade, Digicel, and Puma, who have been Bolt’s sponsors over the years are among the 10 sponsors.

See the full article here!

This year’s proceeds from the JN Foundation Heroes in Act!on Run/Walk will go towards upgrading the Trelawny Infirmary.

The infirmary, which currently houses 52 residents, operates under the purview of the Poor Relief Department of the local government ministry. The funding will ensure that the facility’s occupants have access to the kind of environment that promotes physical and emotional well-being.

The run/walk will be held on Sunday, October 15, starting at 6:30 a.m. with a warm-up session at the Falmouth Pier.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said it is important that the Government backs an event such as the run/walk, which supports the overarching message of promoting physical activity among Jamaicans.

“The statistics are clear seven out of every 10 deaths in Jamaica are linked to lifestyle diseases such as arthritis, hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease all of which could be avoided or prevented or reduced, if Jamaicans engage in minimal physical activity and consume healthy meals,” he said.

The Trelawny Infirmary caters for Falmouth’s aged population and is the only free government facility of its kind in the parish. Most of the persons at the Infirmary are the elderly, with a few younger individuals who have a variety of mental health challenges.

He said he is also pleased that the infirmary will be the beneficiary of the proceeds, especially since the facility opened its doors to 30 patients who are social cases from the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James. These are persons with nowhere to go, who were residing at the hospital.

This is the third staging of the run/walk, which is also supported by the Usain Bolt Foundation. It will comprise a 4K Fun Run and a 10k Run, which starts and ends at the Falmouth Pier.

For more information on the routes and to register, persons can visit the JN Foundation website at www.www.jnfoundation.com, or the Running Events site at www.runningeventsja.com.

Participants can also register at any JN branch or MoneyShop islandwide. Registration closes at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11.

See the original article here!

This year’s proceeds from the JN Foundation Heroes in Act!on Run/Walk, will go towards upgrading the Trelawny Infirmary.

The infirmary, which currently houses 52 residents, operates under the purview of the Poor Relief Department of the Local Government Ministry.

The funding will ensure that the facility’s occupants have access to the kind of environment that promotes physical and emotional well-being.

The Government has given its full endorsement of the Run/Walk, which will be held on Sunday, October 15, starting at 6:30 a.m. with a warm-up session at the Falmouth Pier.

Speaking at the launch of the event at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on August 30, both Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, and Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, pledged their support for the activity, noting that they, along with teams from their Ministries, will be participating.

Minister Grange said the event fits within the Government’s national sports policy, which not only speaks to sports at the elite level, but at the grassroots and recreational levels as well.

“The vision of the policy is to create a dynamic and enabling environment in which persons enjoy and excel in sport at all levels, while building strong bonds of unity in communities and keeping physically fit,” she said.

For his part, Dr. Tufton said it is important that the Government back an event such as the Run/Walk, which supports the overarching message of promoting physical activity among Jamaicans.

“The statistics are clear – seven out of every 10 deaths in Jamaica are linked to lifestyle diseases (such as) arthritis, hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease – all of which could be avoided or prevented or reduced, if Jamaicans engage in minimal physical activity and (consume healthy meals),” he said.

Dr. Tufton said he is also pleased that the infirmary will be the beneficiary of the proceeds from the event, especially given the fact that the facility opened its doors to 30 patients who are social cases from the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St. James. These are persons with nowhere to go, who were residing at the hospital.

The Trelawny Infirmary caters for Falmouth’s aged population and is the only free government facility of its kind in the parish.

Most of the persons at the Infirmary are the elderly, with a few younger individuals who have a variety of mental health challenges.

This is the third staging of the Run/Walk, which is also supported by the Usain Bolt Foundation. It will comprise a 4K Fun Run and a 10k Run, which starts and ends at the Falmouth Pier.

For more information on the routes and to register, persons can visit the JN Foundation website at: www.www.jnfoundation.com, or the Running Events site at www.runningeventsja.com. Participants can also register at any JN branch or Money Shop islandwide. Registration closes at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11.

See the original article here!

Trelawny Infirmary To benefit from Heroes in Act!on Run/Walk
The Trelawny Infirmary will this year be the beneficiary of the JN Foundation Heroes in Act!ion Run/Walk.
The proceeds from the event, which will take place under the theme “Run For Our Heroes,” will be donated to the institution, at Falmouth to upgrade and refurbish the facility, which houses some 62 residents.
Saffrey Brown, general manager of the JN Foundation, said that this year’s theme is very significant, with the focus being placed on improving the welfare of the home for the elderly.
“Our elders are the backbone of the society. They have contributed to building our country. We, therefore, thought it fitting to put the spotlight on our elderly through the upgrading of the Trelawny Infirmary, this year,” she said.
The Usain Bolt Foundation has again endorsed the run and will work in concert with the JN Foundation to generate the participation of a good number of runners and walkers.
The warm-up for Heroes in Act!on Run/Walk will take place at 6:30 a.m. at the Falmouth Port in Trelawny on Sunday, October 15; and the event will start at 7:00 a.m. The  post-run celebration, featuring an awards ceremony, will be held at the same venue.
This year’s Run/Walk will include two routes: The 4.0K Fun Run and 10K Run Runners and walkers will start and end at the Falmouth Pier. Persons can visit the JN Foundation and Running Events websites at www.www.jnfoundation.com or www.runningeventsja.com to view the route maps and also register. Participants can also register at any JN branch or Money Shop islandwide.
Individual forms are to be submitted before close of registration at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11, 2017

The Run/Walk is symbolic of The Jamaica National Group’s continued commitment to rural development. This is the third staging of the event.
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Contact: Dionne Rose l JN Corporate Communications l JN Bank l Tel: 936-3367 l Email: drose@JNGroup.com l Website: www.jnbank.coml August 30, 2017

National Baking Company became the first corporate company to launch an internal Jamaica Moves programme.

The launch, held last Friday at the company’s headquarters, came days after the Ministry of Health set in motion the Jamaica Moves Get Moving Corporate Challenge.

The challenge will target private- and public-sector companies through a friendly performance-based competition. It will be done using the Running Events calendar, where companies are encouraged to enter up to six 5K races over a four-month period, from September to December 2017. The races in the circuit include the FLOW/PUMA Fortis 5K and Colour Me Happy in September, CUMI Come Run and JN Foundation Heroes in Action 5K in October, CB UWI 5K and Reggae Marathon in November and December, respectively.

Tiffany Wong, special projects – office of the chairman at Continental Baking Company and overall winner of the Jamaica Moves Get Moving Challenge, said as the overall winner for the Get Moving Challenge she was inspired to start the company’s internal programme – Fitness and Fun.

“I realised and could appreciate more and more how important it is to keep moving. I thought about how many people in the office are literally just sitting behind their desk and not doing any physical activity and we don’t have a fitness programme in place at all, so I decided to plan a health and wellness team,” Wong said.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who joined the workout at the launch, commended National for taking this first step in providing leadership for the rest of Jamaica’s corporate entities to follow.

Tufton noted that it was good business sense for employers to encourage their employees to be healthy, alert and to pursue a healthy lifestyle.

“It makes employees happier people, more contented, provides them with the energy level to produce more and be more productive. It really impacts the bottom line of any entity if your overall company profile in terms of the health of your employees is positive,” he explained.

National’s Fitness and Fun will be a series of physical activity-based events moving forward.

What is the Jamaica Moves
Get Moving Corporate Challenge?
The JAMAICA Moves Get Moving Corporate Challenge is open to small and large organisations.

– Small organisations can register up to 50 employees and large organisations can register up to 100.

– Companies can sign up for the challenge by visiting the Jamaica Moves website www.jamaicamoves.com or calling 297-MOVE (6683).

– At the end of the challenge, companies and staff with the most points will be awarded. The awards include Company Spirit, Male and Female Champion.

– An organisation’s perfor-mance will be calculated based on the amount of points its members have accumulated. The organisation that has accumulated the most points will be declared the Jamaica Moves Get Moving Challenge Champion.

– The Jamaica Moves Get Moving Corporate Challenge has become increasingly important in light of a 2011 study by the World Bank, titled Public Policy and the Challenge of Chronic Non Communicable Diseases, which estimated that an individual suffering from any NCD spends approximately one-third of household per capita expenditure on health-care services and the purchase of pharmaceutical drugs.

– Jamaica Moves is the country’s coordinated national response to the increased incidences of NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers.

– Through education, engagement and the building of supportive environments, the programme hopes to reduce NCDs by 25 per cent by the year 2025.

See the original article here!

In an effort to correct what the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) has estimated to be losses of US$12.8 billion annually in unexploited revenue from the diaspora, the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) hopes to double the number of Jamaicans investing on the stock market by 2019.

“You have a choice as to where you put your money — Wall Street or Harbour Street.” attorney-at-law Marlon Hill told members of diaspora who gathered at the JSE for a closing bell ringing ceremony on Wednesday.

The event formed part of the week-long Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference held at the Jamaica Conference Centre, which focused on issues affecting Jamaicans living overseas while exploring how the public and private sector could create a more efficient system to capitalise on untapped revenues from the diaspora.

“If you love GraceKennedy products, why not invest in the company? The bread, biscuits, logistics — all of them are listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and its only US$100 to open an account with the JSE.

“There’s a total of six million of us on and off the island, and of the population on island, only 10 per cent of Jamaicans have participated in the JSE. We would like to grow the participation by 10 per cent for both Jamaicans here and those living overseas,” Hill continued.

Deputy General Manager of JSE Robin Levy reasoned that the Jamaican culture, unlike other cultures where people buy stocks for their grandchildren as gifts, could play a role in the minuscule amount of Jamaicans investing locally.

CaPRI’s study, entitled ‘Value of the Diaspora to Jamaica’s Growth Agenda’, also found that investment in local businesses, banks, and the stock market has the highest area of untapped economic potential from the diaspora market.

According to the study, the diaspora currently invests US$330 million in banks across Jamaica and another US$230 million in local businesses. Investment in the stock market totalled US$175 million. However, the study reveals that country has the potential to raise up to US$12.8 billion in revenues annually from investment.

Jamaica’s stock market was recently named the best performing stock market in the world and since the beginning of the year saw its index move up 22 per cent. Over the last three years the market has had annual increases in index of over 52 per cent.

SOCIAL EXCHANGE MARKET BY 2018

Local and international investors have a total of 66 companies to consider for investment, but that number is expected to be increased by the end of 2018 with the introduction of the JSE Social Exchange.

“We are planning to start a social enterprise exchange which will allow people who have community-based organisations like Deaf Can!, which is not only making a profit but is also impacting the deaf community through job creation, to raise funds on the market,” Levy told the Jamaica Observer.

Plans are that the social enterprises will list on the JSE to support expansion programmes or pay off debt. Social enterprises seeking to list on the JSE will also adhere to proper governance procedures as that of other companies listed on the exchange. According to the JSE, a broker will help the entity in determining a stock price that will be attractive to public.

“There is also crowd funding for early-stage social enterprises where friends and family will want to help out. But once they grow beyond a certain stage and they realise that there is future business in what they doing, there will be a stock market for them to list their securities. Who knows? You can have Deaf Can! coffee all over the world,” Levy told the Caribbean Business Report.

JSE said it is partnering with the British Council and Jamaica National Small Business — which is already working with a number of social enterprises through the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative — along with Professor Kadamawe Knife from The University of the West Indies in determining the number of enterprises to be listed.

“There is a huge trust issue in the diaspora; a lot of them have sent money to friends or family to invest in businesses and those monies quite often disappear. So what the Social Exchange will add is that level of integrity, trust and accountability that is usually lacking in just giving it to family or friends to formalise it.

“Some people say its red tape. It’s not really because people are investing their money ,and you have to be accountable for how that money is used and to give them a return. This is not a begging situation, it’s investing in Jamaica, doing good and making money while you’re doing it,” Levy said.

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Chairman of the Diaspora Task Force of the Economic Growth Council (EGC) Dr David Panton says a Jamaican Diaspora bond will be launched later this year, or early next year, in which Jamaicans in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada can participate.

Dr Panton made the disclosure during an update about the progress of initiatives being undertaken by the EGC at the Jamaica 55 Diaspora 2017 Conference on the second day of the conference last week..

“We have started that process and we feel fairly confident that we will be able to have a bond which we can launch if not later this year, then certainly in early next year,” he said.

Addressing the Diaspora Growth Forum session organised by the Jamaica National Group, Dr Panton said that bonds were being used by other countries, such as Israel, and had proven to be a successful method of engaging the Diaspora in investing in their homeland.

“…They (the Jewish Diaspora) did this because of their commitment to the State of Israel…on which they wanted to make a tremendous impact. Therefore, I believe that approach of setting up an entity, such as…the Jamaican Bond Agency, as it were, could make a significant impact on our country,” he said, noting that the Jamaican Diaspora was investing in Jamaica through remittances of some US$2.2 billion a year.

“Jamaicans are not poor; they are sending back a lot of money to Jamaica. They clearly have the capital; however, the question is how do we incentivise the members of the Jamaican Diaspora to effectively participate and engage in Jamaica,” he suggested.

Recently, managing director of JN Bank, Maureen Hayden-Cater urged the Government to establish more concrete avenues for Jamaicans in the Diaspora to contribute to the development of the nation. In reference to 2013 data published by InfoDev for the World Bank, she noted that a quarter of Jamaicans in the Diaspora had investable wealth or annual earnings of US$100,000 or more. More than 70 per cent are interested in investing in start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises, and 63 per cent are also interested in Diaspora bonds.

“We must recognise that Jamaica is not only an island of some 2.7 million people, we are much bigger and expansive than that,” said Hayden-Cater who was speaking against the background of JN Bank’s launch of its JN Diaspora Certificate of Deposit in March, with tenure from one to five years and starting at £1,000, CA$1,000, or US$2,000. Interest at the top end of the longest terms on these investments range from 1.5 per cent in pounds, 1.1 per cent in Canadian dollars to 1.8 per cent in US dollars.

Two per cent of the interest income earned by individual investors through the JN Diaspora Certificate of Deposit will be matched by JN Bank and contributed to social enterprises engaged in the JN Foundation’s Social Enterprise Boost Initiative.

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Some 50 business leaders, industry stakeholders and policymakers were trained in Social Enterprise 101 at a two-day Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI) workshop, a programme being implemented by the JN Foundation.

The participants were drawn from government agencies, ministries and departments of co-operatives and friendly societies through partnership with SEBI, the World Bank and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Saffrey Brown, general manager of the JN Foundation, which spearheads SEBI, said that social enterprise was an excellent tool which can propel community development.

“We have all experienced good projects that have not survived, because it takes dedicated resources to sustain growth and the social enterprise model can achieve this,” she said, in addressing the opening session of the workshop at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Vivian Brown, director of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, welcomed the training and pointed out that in recent years, social enterprise has been a journey of discovering.

“Social enterprises are becoming critical agents for development by using solid business models. The model has shown particular strength in addressing issues relating to crime; and the marginalised, such as persons with disabilities; as well as addressing environmental and climate change issues,” he said.

“My ministry recognises that social enterprises creates local value and can play a central role in the creation of jobs,” he added.

Elaine Tinsley, private-sector specialist at the World Bank who facilitated the training, said the World Bank was pleased to be involved and noted that if the social enterprise sector grows, it would make significant impact on the Jamaican economy.

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