JMMB Team Members Bring Stories to Life for Students on Read Across Jamaica Day
In celebration of Read Across Jamaica Day, the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation once again mobilised JMMB Group team members to support literacy and a love of reading among children across the island.
This year, nearly 40 JMMB team members volunteered their time to visit more than 25 early childhood and primary‑level schools islandwide, reading to students as part of the annual initiative.
As part of the programme, volunteers selected a school of their choice, made direct arrangements with school administrators, and read to students from approved books written by Jamaican authors, such as Boonoonoonous Hair by Olive Senior and Laura James, and The Adventures of Leo & Zeus by Lajean Lee Gordon. The books were then donated to the participating schools and class libraries following each reading session, ensuring the impact extended beyond the day’s activities.
JMMB’s participation in Read Across Jamaica Day reflects the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation’s long‑standing commitment to education and youth development, with a focus on nurturing confidence, values and a lifelong love of learning. Through initiatives such as capacity‑building programmes, scholarships and grants, the creation of safe play spaces, and literacy‑based interventions, the Foundation continues to invest in opportunities that help young people realise their full potential.
“Reading opens doors to imagination, confidence and opportunity, and initiatives like Read Across Jamaica Day allow us to meet children where they are and encourage a lifelong love of learning,” said Kim Mair, CEO of the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation. “By placing Jamaican stories in the hands of our children and leaving those books behind in their schools, we are supporting literacy in a way that is practical, meaningful and enduring.”
By encouraging team member volunteerism and placing locally written stories directly into the hands of young readers, the initiative reinforces reading as both a critical skill and a source of joy, imagination and cultural pride.