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<SPAN class=TopStory>What a nice christmas story this is. I dream of the day when I will be able to do something like this. </SPAN>
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<SPAN class=TopStory>Santa 'Clarkes' shower millions on Hanovarians</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>HORACE HINES, Observer West reporter
Thursday, December 28, 2006
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>A section of the crowd which lined up to receive gift packages donated by the John and Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation at the annual Christmas treat in Chester Castle, Hanover.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>CHESTER CASTLE, Hanover<P class=StoryText align=justify>Twelve seventh graders got scholarships totalling $300,000 at the John and Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation's J$5-million Christmas Eve treat funded by US-based couple Ovan and Gene Clarke.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The students, who in September earned places in various St James high schools via the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) whilst attending the Chester Castle All-Age School, each received $25,000 towards their tuition fees for the next five school years.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Mount Alvernia High School student, Monique Hibbert, one of the 12 recipients, was very upbeat over the scholarship.
"I feel proud. I like to say a big thank you to the John and Gwendolyn Foundation - Mr and Mrs Ovan Clarke for their tremendous work," she said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Anchovy High's Jovayne Barrett was equally grateful.
"I want to tell the Foundation thanks I really appreciate it I feel great..."This will help my mother and father not to distress themselves too much over my school fees for the rest of my high school years," he said.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=350 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Ovan and Gene Clarke donate gifts to a youngster from the Chester Castle community on Christmas Eve at the annual Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation Christmas treat.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>The 12 students were a mere handful of the hundreds of residents from Chester Castle and other surrounding communities who crowded the Clarkes' Jamaican home from as early as 8:00 am to receive gifts of clothing, shoes, back-to-school and a variety of other items.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A gala atmosphere maintained throughout the day with a wide assortment of dishes and drinks flowing freely while music pounded from a sound system.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Ovan Clarke, the managing director of the New York-based construction firm, Ovan Construction Inc explained that for the past 21 years he has been staging the treat at the community of which he's a native. After his parents, John and Gwendolyn Clarke, passed on, the John and Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation was set up in their honour.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I have been doing this every Christmas for the past 21 years. I sponsored it personally when my father and mother were alive. We started from two to three barrels to now some 45 barrels," he said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>His wife Gene, a restauranteur in New York who shopped for the items, said that the foundation should enjoy duty-free concessions for the items they give away each year.
<SPAN class=TopStory>What a nice christmas story this is. I dream of the day when I will be able to do something like this. </SPAN>
<SPAN class=TopStory>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</SPAN>
<SPAN class=TopStory>Santa 'Clarkes' shower millions on Hanovarians</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>HORACE HINES, Observer West reporter
Thursday, December 28, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=350 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>A section of the crowd which lined up to receive gift packages donated by the John and Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation at the annual Christmas treat in Chester Castle, Hanover.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>CHESTER CASTLE, Hanover<P class=StoryText align=justify>Twelve seventh graders got scholarships totalling $300,000 at the John and Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation's J$5-million Christmas Eve treat funded by US-based couple Ovan and Gene Clarke.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The students, who in September earned places in various St James high schools via the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) whilst attending the Chester Castle All-Age School, each received $25,000 towards their tuition fees for the next five school years.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Mount Alvernia High School student, Monique Hibbert, one of the 12 recipients, was very upbeat over the scholarship. "I feel proud. I like to say a big thank you to the John and Gwendolyn Foundation - Mr and Mrs Ovan Clarke for their tremendous work," she said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Anchovy High's Jovayne Barrett was equally grateful.
"I want to tell the Foundation thanks I really appreciate it I feel great..."This will help my mother and father not to distress themselves too much over my school fees for the rest of my high school years," he said.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=350 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Ovan and Gene Clarke donate gifts to a youngster from the Chester Castle community on Christmas Eve at the annual Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation Christmas treat.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>The 12 students were a mere handful of the hundreds of residents from Chester Castle and other surrounding communities who crowded the Clarkes' Jamaican home from as early as 8:00 am to receive gifts of clothing, shoes, back-to-school and a variety of other items.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A gala atmosphere maintained throughout the day with a wide assortment of dishes and drinks flowing freely while music pounded from a sound system.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Ovan Clarke, the managing director of the New York-based construction firm, Ovan Construction Inc explained that for the past 21 years he has been staging the treat at the community of which he's a native. After his parents, John and Gwendolyn Clarke, passed on, the John and Gwendolyn Clarke Foundation was set up in their honour.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I have been doing this every Christmas for the past 21 years. I sponsored it personally when my father and mother were alive. We started from two to three barrels to now some 45 barrels," he said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>His wife Gene, a restauranteur in New York who shopped for the items, said that the foundation should enjoy duty-free concessions for the items they give away each year.