Old Harbour teen girls given laptops, among 400 Jamaican children gifted this summer by US charity Pollyanna Project

During one of several stops across the island donating back-to-school items to children in need, Moore and her team gifted Oneisha Simmonds, 17, and 18-year-old Britalia Burke each a Microsoft Intel i5 laptop much to the delight of the girls.

“These are donated to you by the Brooklyn Nets. They are one of our sponsors. They gave us these devices to give to students just like you,” Moore told both students while handing over a backpack containing other school items.

The presentation was done at the Old Harbour SDA Church where Burke was assisting with Vocational Bible School.

“These devices cost over a thousand US dollars,” Moore noted, highlighting the quality of the laptops. “They were used by the basketball players at the Brooklyn Nets. But they are upgrading so they gave them to us to give away.”

Burke, a resident of Sandy Bay, Clarendon and aspiring nurse at the Portmore Community College, is grateful for the donation as the absence of having such a device and internet access prohibited her from sitting the CXC exams. But now the former Kingston Technical student says she can be more focused as she prepares to sit her CXCs in the coming months.

Simmonds’ situation wasn’t as dire as Burke’s but admitted feeling frustrated sometimes as she had to wait on her cousin to complete her work first before she can access the laptop.

“I can be more advance in school,” Simmonds, a student at Old Harbour High quipped, as she awaits her CXC results and is confident of going to Sixth Form.

Named in honour of Moore’s late mother popularly known as Miss Polly in the Bodles community of Old Harbour, the Pollyanna Project has been operating as a charity for 29 years, serving thousands of people, mostly children, across Jamaica and continental Africa.

Moore’s philanthropic efforts have won many hearts and even received the US President’s Volunteer Service Award the highest award given to outstanding volunteers in that nation.

The charity’s passion and zeal to serve humanity was in full view during its most recent visit to Moore’s native land where 400 children from the communities of Castleton, St Mary, Duanvale, Trelawny and Kingston received back-to-school items in preparation for the upcoming school term starting September.

“We would love for this to continue because trust me I know that a lot of these parents are grateful because trust me back-to-school is expensive you know. So if they can take a little of the burn off the shoulders [of parents] they’ll really, really appreciate it. So thank you again Pollyanna we really appreciate it. It’s really fulfilling,” said Woman District Constable Gillian Brown at a back-to-school fair in collaboration with the local civic groups in Castleton.

Allison Lewis-Brown was with her six-year-old son Tyler Brown who exclaimed that he felt “nice” after collecting a school bag packed with other essential learning tools.

“He gets a backpack that he really likes,” said Lewis-Brown. “The experience today was very good. It was the first time for me meeting the Pollyanna group and it was fun and I enjoyed everything.”

Mother of two, Keneisha Bowen said: “I am so glad and happy for what you guys have done for us because many parents don’t have it for [their] children to go September morning [to school]. I’m feeling great because my son got a bag that I couldn’t afford. I’m feeling so great and I thank you.”

“I am really glad for the collaboration with the Castleton and Orange Field Citizen associations and the Pollyanna group,” said Marvin Nulty, past president of the Castleton CDC. “It is a well-needed project in the community and we really appreciate it and happy that we were chosen for this project.”