SHIRLEY
AMBASSADOR TO the United States, Professor Gordon Shirley is leading a high-level panel that is fielding questions on immigration, education and investment opportunities in Jamaica, at a town hall meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, today.
The forum, which is being presented by Team Jamaica Bickle (TJB), is being held at the West Philadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church (46th Street/Haverford Avenue), and is the culmination of a month-long service series of events to highlight the influence of Jamaica at the annual Penn Relays.
The 111th running of the Penn Relays takes place at the University of Pennsylvania from April 28-30.
Joining Ambassador Shirley on the penal will be Dr. Basil K. Bryan, Consul General of Jamaica in New York; Dr. Alston Meade, Honorary Consul in Philadelphia; Jamaican-born immigration attorney, Andrea Clarke; Pennsylvania State Representative, Dwight Evans, and Irwine Clare, founder/president of TJB.
STAKE A CLAIM
"This is an opportunity for the community to come out and stake a claim in the future of our young people," Vincent Heath, co-chair of the forum and a member of the Philadelphia Organising Committee of TJB told JIS News.
Established in 1995 as a hospitality provider for the growing number of Jamaican and Caribbean athletes attending the annual Penn Relays, the organisation last week kicked off its 10th anniversary celebrations with a well-attended reception at the Consulate General of Jamaica in New York.
Caribbean Food Delights/Royal Caribbean Bakery, Tower Isle Patties, Air Jamaica Ltd., Western Union, GraceKennedy and Company/Caribbean Outpost, Barbara Wilson (Philadelphia), Oswald Hancle (New York), Lance Clarke (New York) and Judith Palmer (New York) were recognised for supporting the TJB's vision.
Guest of honour and U.S. Olympic gold medallist (Mexico, 1968), Bob Beamon passed
symbolic batons to Dr. Bryan; Chief Executive Officer of Caribbean Food Delights, Vincent Hosang; entrepreneur/Olympian, Byron LaBeach and Photojournalist, Roland Hyde.
Ben Francis, former headmaster of Vere Technical High School, will be this year's special guest of the TJB.
