Scotiabank Group Jamaica | Wealth | Business | Everyday Banking | Community | Youth

April 20, 2010 - Scotiabank Jamaica today handed over a brand new Nissan Caravan to the Jamaica Red Cross to replace the organization’s bus which was stolen by criminal elements in October 2008. Since then, the organization has been conducting it outreach initiatives with a vehicle which was on loan to the organization.

Scotiabank’s donation will help the Red Cross conduct its meal on wheels programme which feeds over 100 street people throughout the corporate area. In making the donation Scotiabank’s director for public and corporate affairs, Joylene Griffiths Irving said that “Scotiabank is very pleased to be able to donate this bus to the Red Cross this morning as the organization was badly hampered in its efforts after their unit was stolen. We have been working on making this possible for a while and we are glad to be able to hand over the vehicle which will help them advance their mission to help the socially and economically disadvantaged in our communities.”

The mission of the Red Cross movements internationally is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. Jamaica Red Cross is part of the the organizations 181 members worldwide and conducts various charity outreach projects to help the indigent, senior citizens, youth and people living with HIV and AIDs.

In accepting the bus, David Chin, chairman, Kingston and St Andrew branch of the Jamaica Red Cross said that “we are delighted to receive this donation from Scotiabank as it will help us to deliver our service much better over time. This bus has increased capacity and we will be able to reach more people with our meals on wheels programme. In addition, we will also be better able to move our volunteers around for training projects and other initiatives such as our skills training and counselling projects.”

Scotiabank has had a close relationship with the Jamaica Red Cross and has made several donations to support the organisation in executing its volunteer projects and its outreach programmes. The most recent support being a $5m donation to the Jamaica Red Cross to support the Haitian earthquake relief efforts in January 2010.