ANYTIME a Jamaican gig comes his way, Leon is up for it. The latest, a fund-raiser for the Issa Foundation, was something the veteran American actor-singer could not turn down.

He and his band, Leon & The Peoples, will perform with Third World and DJ Norie at Sony Music Hall in Manhattan on November 12. They will help raise funds to assist with building a children’s health-care centre in Ocho Rios.

Leon told the Jamaica Observer that he got involved with the project through Wayne Jobson who introduced him to Paul Issa, principal of the Issa Foundation.

“A project like this means the world to me and my band. Being at the point where I can not just give back but support our next generation of youth makes what I do so much more rewarding,” he said.

The New York-born Leon, who found international fame portraying a member of Jamaica’s bobsleigh team in the 1993 hit movie Cool Runnings, first visited Jamaica in 1983. He has lived here for extended periods and supported charity causes throughout the country for 30 years.

“The Jamaica Tourist Board assisted me in going to the most rural areas of the island to meet and inspire schoolchildren and let them know that anything is possible for us if we really want it!” he exclaimed.

The Issa Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2005. It has participated in several educational, health and empowerment projects.

Leon’s breakthrough role came in the 1991 movie The Five Heartbeats. Cool Runnings, based on the feats of Jamaica’s bobsleigh team to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, enhanced his reputation.

That was followed by a much-lauded portrayal of singer David Ruffin in the 1998 television movie The Temptations, and as Little Richard in the 2000 movie of the same name.

Leon has toured as a singer with Beres Hammond, and acted as MC for the Reggae Sunsplash and Sting International events in the United States.