A.W. SangsterTHE GROUP called Chicago Concerned Jamaicans Inc. (CCJ) is made up mostly of Jamaicans or persons with Jamaican connections. Each year the group organises a gala banquet to raise funds for educational projects back home and in the United States. This year's gala the 13th held on November 4 at the Chicago Hyatt Regency Hotel, had more than 1,100 guests and was the largest ever.
Incidentally, have you noticed that elevators in high rise buildings do not have a floor 13? The numbers go from 1 to 12 and then to 14. So floor 14 is really floor 13! How much influence superstition still has on our daily lives! Anyhow the gala went through without any untoward happenings and the organising committee chaired by Linda Edwards was very happy both with the turnout as well as the overall programme of the evening.
The majority of the people attending were Jamaican migrants or had Jamaican roots. While the guests were being seated and before MCs Kay Osborne and Hubert Stalling started the formal proceedings snapshots of Jamaican scenes were displayed on a large screen along with ads of supporters and sponsors of CCJ. This year for the first time CCJ had an ad on The Gleaner Go-Jamaica web-site. Ian Beckford of the UTech multi-media centre designed the page which had information on the CCJ itself, on Jamaica, on the awardees for this year with a history of CCJ's past support to various projects in Jamaica and the USA.
The initiative to start the organisation arose as a response to the tremendous need in the country caused by the ravages of Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Since then CCJ has raised more than US$300,000 in cash and in kind to assist a variety of projects both in Jamaica and the USA.
Current President Jeanette Akerele outlined to the audience the progress of the organisation and gave an update on the support programme. Some of the areas that are being or have been supported in the past are:
Hurricane and flood disaster relief
Assistance with fees for CXC examinations
Scholarships to secondary school students
College level scholarships
Awards in the United States to youth in the Chicago area and to the United Negro College Fund
Provision of books, supplies, equipment and computers to a number of schools
Provision of computers to the Jamaica Library service to assist with community Internet access
Participation in a collaborative feeding programme for children at the Drews Avenue Primary School.
The CCJ this year made a contribution of US$1,000 to the University of Technology Education Foundation for a sports scholarship. This is a new area for the Foundation. The overall objective is that this contribution will provide a catalyst to encourage graduates of CAST/UTech who are now residing in the USA, to add to the fund and provide a capital base for an ongoing scholarship through the Foundation.
The CCJ education committee in the United States chaired by Clover King-Thompson works with a local committee as well as with the Kiwanis who help to identify the needs and monitor the progress of the programme at the local level.
CCJ is now well recognised in the State of Illinois and the excellent gala programme had greetings from the Governor of the State, Governor George H. Ryan and the Mayor of Chicago, Mr. Richard M. Daley. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Ambassador Richard Bernal, Consul-General Dr. Basil K. Bryan, and Honorary Consul in Chicago Lloyd L. Hyde.
Over the years, the organisation has honoured persons from the State of Illinois and from Jamaica. This year, CCJ honoured:
- Professor Frederick A. Rodgers, Professor Emeritus inCurriculum and Instruction Department in the College of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign and
- Dr. Alfred Sangster retired President of the University of Technology.
The event was an evening of meeting and greeting and I met quite a number of CAST/UTech past students. After the formalities were over, the fans took to the dance floor to the music of the Bare Essentials band, flown over especially for the occasion by Air Jamaica.
CCJ is one of many organisations that are committed to assist with the folks back home. So many Jamaicans have gone abroad and have succeeded in a variety of jobs and professions, but they still either come home regularly, or keep in touch, and reflect with nostalgia about the little island in the Caribbean that we all call home.
n A.W. Sangster is former president of the University of Technology.
