Kingston, Jamaica – The Sagicor Foundation has contributed three and a half million dollars to help high school students across Jamaica to recover from learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be done through an intensive three-week literacy and numeracy summer programme for grade seven, eight and nine students in partnership with ILAH’s Lemon-Aid Stand for Kids Foundation. 

The camps – located in Kingston, Manchester and St James – will get underway on Monday, July 4, and will continue until the end of the month.

13-year-old Imani-Leigh Hall, founder of ILAH’s Lemon-Aid, conceptualised the initiative, which she dubbed ‘Dip and Come again’, so that some of her peers across the island who fell behind in their academics over the last two years will have an opportunity to receive one-on-one tutoring. 
“I am so happy and grateful that Sagicor is assisting in such a huge way with this initiative and making it possible for ILAH’s Lemon-Aid Stand for Kids Foundation to help so many children who fell behind in Math and English because of the pandemic,” Hall said. “This is my biggest initiative to date, and it really means a lot to me to be able to bring this to life, as one Sagicor’s fifty Community Heroes that were celebrated last year.”
Alysia White, Executive Director of the Sagicor Foundation, noted that Sagicor was delighted to partner with the young philanthropist in this venture, using some of the funds earmarked for its Get Back on Track Initiative from the Foundation’s Sigma Corporate Run in 2021.
“It was really a match made in heaven,” White said. “Last year, through Sigma Run, we set aside funds for our Get Back on Track initiative, which is designed to help students across the island to ‘catch up’ from COVID-19. We had the funds set aside and ILAH’s had the will. They have developed an amazing curriculum, and so we’re very pleased to contribute 3.5 million dollars.”
Close to 100 students in total will be filtered into the programme through referrals by principals and guidance counselors at schools near each camp site. Trained teachers, supported by marshals and Sagicor Foundation volunteers, will deliver lessons on Monday to Thursday each week. On Fridays, students will benefit from sessions aimed at their personal development with experts in various fields.
Nestle, Digicel Foundation, Proven and CPJ have since come on board to lend their support to the initiative.
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About Sagicor Group Jamaica
Sagicor Group Jamaica is a financial services conglomerate.  The Company commenced  operations in  1970 as  Life  of  Jamaica  Limited,  the  first locally owned  life  insurance  company  and  the  first  life  insurance  company  to  be  listed  on  the  JSE.  The Group offers products and services in the areas of Banking, Insurance, Investments, Real Estate, Asset Management and Retirement Planning.  Sagicor  Life  Jamaica  Limited  is  the  leading  Life  and  Health  insurance provider in  Jamaica; the Bank is one of Jamaica’s largest banks, and Sagicor Investments is one of the top Investments companies in the Country.   Sagicor Group Jamaica is a member of the wider Sagicor Financial Corporation. Sagicor Financial Corporation operates in over 20 countries and its operations date back to 1840.

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