Local News
Local Outreach Ministry Launches Back-to-School Sponsorship Programme for Needy Children
AFY MINISTRIES, a local non-profit and outreach organisation that touches the lives of many through its free monthly inspirational newsletters, entertainment ministry, and Christian dating service, has recently launched its sponsorship programme for needy Jamaican students.
“This sponsorship programme,” said AFY Ministries’ president, Errol Jones,” is designed to assist needy children, primarily those from homes where their parents find it difficult to finance their back-to-school needs, such as, uniforms, shoes, books, school bags, stationery, etc.”
Mr. Jones argues that most of these children are growing up in communities where guns are prevalent and drugs are available on every corner. “Half of them come from single parent families, mostly because their fathers died from the hands of these same guns,” he said.
“Your sympathy cannot help a child… but it is a beginning. Therefore, I invite your participation in becoming a sponsor and send a child to school with hope, dignity and a reason to smile,” he pleads.
One of the organisation’s goals is to see hurting people find healing and wholeness. Through their telephone/help ministry, they aim to become their support system. “Our message of unconditional love and unending hope is practical and is transforming lives,” said Mr. Jones, and who was quick to point out that “AFY is not another religion; it is not a church thing, but a God thing.”
The acronym “AFY” means “ALL FOR YOU”. Their goal is to provide ministries and services that impact every area of life. For a copy of their free monthly inspirational newsletter, please send an email to: afyministries@gmail.com
For More information contact: (876) 321-6472, (876) 321-7897, (876) 497-4972, eMail: afyministries@gmail.com
URL:http://digg.com/u18tYW; Twitter: @afyministries; IM: SKYPE: afyministries
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Dream Jamaica Hosts Transformative Summer Programmes for Youths!
Dream Jamaica’s “Transformative Summer Programme” will host its closing luncheon and awards ceremony at the UWI Mona Visitors’ Lodge & Conference Centre, August 21, 2009.
“The programme, designed to deliver transformative programmes to 50 students, say almost 80 students showed up and have been participating in their Summer Programmes,” said the organisation’s president, Shemiele Da’Briel. “We’d like to share the story with you and to express their gratitude for your support.”
In addition to their year-round mentoring programme, they also offer summer programmes which provide transformative opportunities for young people.
Dream Jamaica offers programmes that serve as stepping stones for students to establish a path toward success. Students get the opportunity to develop lasting bonds with dedicated mentors, and to explore a variety of careers.
For information about their volunteer opportunities or if you’d like to make a direct impact by supporting their mission to provide transformative programs which inspire young people to achieve their dreams!
Check out this article about the launch: http://islandfuse.com/articles/dreamja.html
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International News
Takes Mobile Payments to the (Canadian) Masses
Canada’s three carriers — Bell Canada, Rogers and TELUS — have joined forces to create Zoompass, a top-to-bottom, designed-for-mobile, money transfer and payments service that launched today.
“It’s the beginning of something that’s going to revolutionize our industry,” said Nadir Mohamed, CEO of Rogers Communications, one of the partners in Zoompass, in a keynote delivered to the Canadian Telecom Summit today.
Given the ubiquity of cell phones in Canada, the carriers are hoping their customers will begin using Zoompass for everyday financial transactions, not just bill-paying but things like giving kids their allowance or collecting money from co-workers to buy the boss a birthday gift. Zoompass is ideally positioned for success — and could subsequently look to move into other markets, perhaps even the United States. As is often the case, whenever the Americans sneeze, we here in Jamaica catches the cold.
See the full story here: http://bit.ly/oHOzy
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Hot Business Trends
Hottest Trend in Business – Youth Market
Trend watching has emerged in big business as a discipline of business management and a popular topic among top media publications and futurists. Small business can benefit from trend watching, too. The following trend was selected for its longevity, market awareness and potential profitability. In this post, we’ll look at first of the four trends:
Trend #1: Youth Market – The Y generation is a market force to be reckoned with. This power is why a small-town pop sensation, American Avril Lavigne, can go from obscurity to the 5th most searched word on the Internet and move to the number two music spot on Billboard’s Top 200 charts. This power is also, why the auto industry can expect peak numbers from 27 million teen car buyers, and four million new buyers, a year for the next eight years.
A quick, trend-spotting technique is to take a stroll to your local book store or pharmacy magazine rack. You can get a fast take on a market by looking at the thickness of the publication. Computer and business magazines, Red Herring and Fast Company, have thinned from an absence of advertisers. Take a look at the huge size of Muscle Magazine and Muscle & Fitness as the teenage bodybuilding markets have grown, so has the advertising.
Opportunities: Serving the teen auto aftermarket with customization should be hot. Try the Classic Driving School, a unique, teen driver training experience with a Porsche. Youth sport supplements should continue growing but with fierce competition. Look for avenues in fitness mixed with extreme attitudes.
Source: http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/bestpractices/a/aa122202a.htm
