THE MONTHLY GLEANER | SEPTEMBER 7 - OCTOBER 7, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 8 THE OLE Farmers Association North America, Inc (OFANA) will celebrate its Annual Northeast Fundraising Dinner on December 9 at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa in Stamford Connecticut. OFANA President Norma Jarrett commended Vice-President Dr Hylton Gordonw,who like his predecessors, with the dedicated Northeast Region Ole Farmers (alumni), have delivered a signature annual fundraising event every year. The 2022 Dinner was a memorable event, and Dr Gordon and his team promise an even more spectacular event on December 9, 2023. As part of its strategic plan, OFANA amplifies the collective voice of Ole Farmers in North America, Canada, and the Eastern Caribbean, making it easy for members to participate and leverage their collective experiences and talent to promote Jamaica’s agriculture sector, including supporting the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) and students. Since 2012, OFANA has enabled significant projects at CASE, facilitating scholarship opportunities of over US $120, 000.00 so that each student is afforded the opportunity to maximise his or her potential despite their lack of finances. During the pandemic ,OFANA distributed 151 brand-newDell laptops to CASE students who were unable to afford to purchase their own devices to participate in the new virtual learning that the COVID-19 pandemic forced. In January 2019, OFANA delivered on the promised disbursement of US $120, 000.00 to build and equip the OFANA Plant Tissue Culture Lab at CASE. This laboratory, in addition to promoting practical competencies to agricultural students, will provide disease-free planting materials as well as drought-resistant seedlings for Jamaican farmers. Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Floyd Green will be keynote speaker at the fundraiser, while Dr Karren Dunkley, an education consultant and former Global Diaspora Northeast Leader will reprise her role as mistress of ceremony. Guests include Jamaica’s Consul General New York Alsion Wilson. OFANA invites persons to share in celebrating this evening of excellence and enjoy the festivities and musical entertainment fromDJ Roy, Road International. For tickets, please visit www.eventbrite.com. Northeast Fundraising Dinner OR call - Dr Hylton Gordon – 914 – 908 - 0055; Stanley Baxter @ Baxter Plumbing – 917- 709 - 7995 or “Natty” Paul Miller - 917- 865- 4516 or 718- 341- 9800. OFANA Northeast to host 14th fundraising dinner in Stamford, CT Aubrey Campbell/Gleaner Writer NEW YORK, NY: T HE ORGANIZATION for International Development (OID) will visit Jamaica from January 13-20, 2024, for its annual ‘mission of mercy’programme, bringing well-needed healthcare to underserved communities across the island. The team of highly qualified medical practitioners from the USA will visit the parishes of Trelawny and St Thomas, with a primary focus on women’s health and well-being, in what is hoped will be a long-termobjective for the organisation, founded some 33 years ago by Dr Roy Streete, a Jamaican dental surgeon in the Bronx, NY. To satisfy that objective, OID is launching a public funding initiative to purchase a mobile mammogram van, complete with a gynaecological examination room and an ultrasound unit, to provide comprehensive screening for breast and cervical cancer for women on the island. “We are looking to purchase amobile unit to fit our needs at the moment, at just under US$1million, and as you can tell, some aspects of the unit will have to be custom-made, so that could take a while. However we are focused on the next nine to 12 months,” President Dr Michelle James said. Currently, there are no free-standing mammography units available in the Jamaican public health system, making this project not only useful, but urgent. In January of this year, OID conducted another successful medical mission to Jamaica, with very encouraging results. Some 746 patients received medical care, and 702 patients received some dental care. Working with the University Hospital of the West Indies Healing Hearts, the ABI-GAYE SMYTHE I Have A Heart Foundation (IHAH), and the Friends of Montefiore Medical Centre cardiothoracic team from the Bronx, NY, ten patients underwent valve-replacement surgery at the Mona-based hospital. A release from the organisation said that the January 2024 mission will be centred in the communities of Yallahs and Carey Park in St Thomas and in Falmouth, Trelawny. Dr Streete, who has served the Jamaican diaspora at the executive level, offered that OID is not concerned only with the healthcare and economic needs of the less fortunate, but the educational needs as well, “so that the citizenry may be better able to provide for themselves and their families, and to facilitate sustainable community development”. Within the last 30 years, mission volunteers have travelled to Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St Vincent & The Grenadines, Haiti, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Zambia and South Africa. US-based group to fund mobile mammogram unit for Jamaica Dr. Roy Streete (right, foreground) and a teamof volunteer medical professionals in Jamaica earlier this year. CONTRIBUTED
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