Durrant Pate/Contributor
In commemoration of its 25th anniversary, microfinance company Access Financial Services (AFS) unveiled a massive give-back campaign that will benefit several community groups and organisations across Jamaica.
AFS has launched the ‘Access Hope’ corporate social responsibility initiative, aimed at inspiring hope and powering possibilities for Jamaican communities. Access Hope will see several school infrastructure projects and community programmes, each receiving J$250,000.
All told, the company has invested J$6.25 million in these worthy causes and organisations, with more than a third of the funds set aside for the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA). Noting that the CPFSA will receive J$2.25 million, AFS chief executive Hugh Campbell said the donation fits the microlender’s focus on national development.
According to him, “We have partnered with the CPFSA in the past, so we know first-hand the amazing work they do in this country for our children who need it the most. It was therefore an easy decision, and we are confident that this grant will help the agency to advance its work on behalf of wards of the state, specifically around education. It is our hope that this donation will help to offset some of those costs, allowing the agency to divert limited resources elsewhere.”
Several other groups selected for grants
More than twelve other groups, including schools and community-based organisations have also been selected to receive grants of J$250,000 each. Among them, the Mayfield Primary and Infant School in Southfield, St. Elizabeth; Town Head Primary and Infant School in Westmoreland; Sturge Town Community Centre in St. Ann; and the Orangefield and Jericho Community Centre in St. Catherine.
Highlighting the company’s plans for Labour Day, Campbell said several projects were lined up for May 23, with special attention on schools, including Mayfield Primary, where the microlender broke ground for a reading garden on Read Across Jamaica Day earlier this month.
In addition to its focus on education, AFS will also continue supporting small business development with a grant dedicated to training for micro and small entrepreneurs through the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), with which AFS is already in partnership.
In expressing gratitude, CPFSA chief executive officer Laurette Adams-Thomas said the donation would benefit nine state-operated home,s adding, “This donation represents a meaningful investment in the future of some of Jamaica’s most vulnerable youth. We commend Access Financial for its steadfast commitment to education and nation-building, as exemplified through this initiative. Partnerships such as these are critical to our mandate, and we are heartened by your continued dedication to improving the lives of our children. Together, we are helping to create a brighter and more equitable future for the next generation.”
JBDC acting chief executive officer, Harold Davis, expressed appreciation for the extended partnership and congratulated the company for its bold move. He said, “This investment is a clear signal that AFS understands what we at JBDC have long known – access to finance must be accompanied by access to knowledge. It is not enough to provide a loan; entrepreneurs must also be equipped with the skills to manage those resources effectively. Financial literacy, business development training, and marketing capacity are not optional—they are essential to success and sustainability.”
He added that through the Access Hope initiative, AFS will be investing J$6.25 million across 25 community-based projects describing this as “a bold and commendable act of corporate responsibility, and one that speaks to the very soul of this company. Projects that support school infrastructure, literacy and numeracy, community centres, and vulnerable groups like children in state care—these are not just donations, they are legacies.”
Source: Our Today – https://our.today/access-financial-services-launches-j6-25-million-community-initiative-for-25th-anniversary/
