Jamaicans Enlarging MLK’s Dream

Today, we celebrate Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr. eighty birthday.

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With all the excitement taking place in Washington DC, it is easy to overlook the man whose courage and leadership spawned a season of hope and justice.  Today we peek in on a group in the home town of Dr. King, Atlanta Georgia.  This is important as there is a growing Jamaican community in Atlanta, boasting upwards of 50K. At this level, the economies of scale have a vibrant potential.

Today, we are encouraged to invest ourselves in  projects of service.

There is a group in Atlanta who is ahead of the curve with regards to service. Yes, there are many community focused groups in this fair city, however today let me profile the Benevolent Mission of Atlanta (BMA).

This organization was formed on March 5, 2006 and over the past three years has given financial assistance to a number of schools in St. Ann, Kingston and Westmoreland.

 Mrs. Gail Dunwell , newly appointed president has stated  that BMA’s mission is dedicated to effectively harnessing and leveraging the time, talent, and resources of the Jamaica-U.S. Community to assist disadvantaged and at-risk children, who possess great potential, throughout the island of Jamaica and in the metro Atlanta area.

She is supported by a new 12-member board of directors .

 They are First V.P., Kisa McDonald, Second V.P., Everett McNish, Secretary, Norma Harry-Love, Treasurer, Patrick Hector, Assistant Treasurer, Jo-Ann McNish, Director, Damian Facey, Director, Bishop Bostic, Director, Courtney McFarlane, Director, Christine Montaque, and Immediate Past Pres.  Dr. Conrad Ingram, and Rolston Dyer, Parliamentarian.

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“BMA’s goal is to help to ensure that these children are prepared for a lifetime of socially responsible citizenship. Our focus is on elementary and middle school-aged children, with the objective of improving literacy and numeracy among such students, thus preparing them for a successful transition to high school,” she said.

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May the spirit of  BMA encourage us to dream and do great things.

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Let’s find some way of sewing a new thread in our community’s quilt to strengthen, and knit us together in an enduring way.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 5:57 am and is filed under leadership with a Purpose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.