OLD HARBOUR, St Catherine — The Christian Youth Missionary Society (CYMS) of the New Hope Seventh-day Christian Church brought hope to Sunbeam Children’s Home for boys last Saturday through a well-needed donation at the organisation’s Spring Village location. The items included clothes, food, toiletries, and toys.

The community-based church, which recently celebrated its third anniversary, highlighted the need to give back and remember those who are in need.

“One of our responsibilities as Christians is to minister to those in need. We particularly wanted to reach out to those who do not have the luxury of being in a biological family setting, and Sunbeam boys’ home is right in our church community so we didn’t have to look very far,” said Courtnae Faulknor, president of the church’s CYMS group.

“It is important for the Church and its young people to be involved in such initiatives because it helps us — while carrying out the mandate to take care of the poor, widows, and destitute — to be appreciative of the blessings we sometimes take for granted like sleeping in our own beds and waking up with our siblings and other family members, and to just be thankful to God for everything,” she added.

Vice-President Antonette Royal shared similar sentiments.

“Generosity is a high value in churches and the Bible teaches us that, as followers of God, we should not be focused on wealth. Instead, we should be good stewards of what we have been given and share what we have with those who are less fortunate than us. And so we believe it is very important for the Church and their young people to participate in initiatives such as this, to exercise the hospitality that we speak about,” she said.

Twelve-year-old St Jago High School student Durwin Brown was happy to be involved.

“It felt good to see the joy on the boys’ faces and to see them gather so quickly to see what was happening. I could see that they were appreciative of everything that they got. It makes me realise that many people are in need and we should always be willing to give,” he said.

In accepting the donations, manager of the boys’ home Desmond Whitely highlighted the importance of creating a partnership with the church, led by Pastor Dr Courtney Faulknor.

“Thank you so much for supporting us; and we want to build a partnership because it’s very important that Christian values are infused into the lives of the boys — they need more of that. That’s how we’re going to transform the society,” said Whitely.

The 46-year-old boys’ home, he said, is the largest such facility in Jamaica, in terms of numbers.

“There’s none bigger than us; some may be larger in building but not in terms of numbers. There’s a reason for that: There’s a confidence that the State has in Sunbeam, that the boys will have a chance… and it’s based on the Christian values that we have always established and had and what we try to transit and pass on to the boys,” he explained.

The facility, though licensed to host 40 boys, currently houses 55, with an additional five expected within the next few days.

The manager also told the Jamaica Observer that there are plans to open a new facility in Spanish Town in January, where the younger boys will be placed.

“The vision is that we will create our own nursery because part of the challenge you have is that the children, when they come to us, are infused into a programme, and if they are too young they get a little bit spoilt. The bigger ones will spoil them… so what we are trying to do is to create another home and socialise them a little bit more before they come to this facility,” he explained.

It has been financially challenging, he said, operating the home.

“It is costing us right now $30,000 per day to send the boys to school. The food bill for Sunbeam is $600,000 per month. The boys eat a bag of rice every four days… The electricity bill here is quarter million dollars each month, and the staff salaries are way over a million dollars,” he pointed out.

However, he expressed gratitude to the New Hope church and other entities that continue to make generous donations, as he says they play a critical role in reducing the operating costs.

“It’s by God’s grace and provision that we have been able to survive. It’s been almost two years we haven’t bought groceries for this home so when I tell you $600,000, it’s $600,000 on the books. It’s not $600,000 we pay out because this is valued so what you bring, there’s a value placed on it because if you don’t give us tissue, we have to buy it; and if you don’t give us rags and soaps and all of those things, we have to purchase it. But God has been so good to us over the last couple of years that we haven’t had to go to the shop to buy any grocery. Every Saturday somebody comes in… we don’t beg,” he said gratefully.