Businessman donates $500,000 to Green Pond’s football programme

Businessman Omar McFarlane has donated $500,000 towards Green Pond High's football programme.

The cheque was handed over to representatives from the school on Monday, a few minutes before the kickoff of the Green Pond versus Cornwall College Zone A daCosta Cup match.

Oraine Ebanks, the principal of Green Pond, said the money will be used to enhance nutrition for student-athletes.

"We find that our students are developing slowly and one of the issues is nutrition," Ebanks said.

The school sees the contribution as a big deal. Over the years, parents have been contributing to the programme but it has been insufficient.

According to Ebanks, the contribution is seen as a significant step in bettering the lives of young athletes.

"This will definitely help with physical development and their mental capacity to play the sport and to do well academically overall," Ebanks said.

The philanthropist McFarlane told STAR Sports that he views football as a community-building activity that keeps students engaged.

"Football brings communities together. Whenever they are viewing the game it brings them together and it also helps to keep children out of trouble," said McFarlane. "In fact, in terms of coordination, football is one of the first sports anyone can learn, noting that kicking a ball is one of the first things a child learns to do.

McFarlane is a former student of Cornwall College who lives in Farm Heights, (a neighbouring community to Green Pond).

He emphasised the broader impact of football as to how far it can take students.

"As they matriculate and get older, it is important for scholarships, and also to represent the country nationally," said McFarlane, who believes football is instrumental at the basic, primary, and high school levels in Jamaica.

As for continuing the great initiative, McFarlane plans to extend his support to other schools and programmes in the future.

"As a son of the city and from a philanthropist perspective, I foresee assisting other programmes and other schools in different initiatives," said McFarlane.

Continuing, he added that he will continue to give back to local football programmes and schools not only in the parish but islandwide.