by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
Youth Leader and Advocate Jenella Edwards of River Sallee St Patrick will be Grenada’s next Queen’s Young Leaders Awardee for 2018. The award, which will be presented in London by Her Majesty The Queen in 2018 is part of The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme.
It celebrates the achievements of young people who are taking the lead to transform the lives of others and make a lasting difference in their communities.
Edwards has been chosen to receive this prestigious award for her involvement in assisting young people to attend a tertiary institution (TA Marryshow Community College).
Through her non-profit organisation, the HEON Project, a total of 10 students received financial aid to attend TAMCC.
Edwards is grateful to be awarded, saying that her passion for assisting the less fortunate has born fruit.
“Being aware of the difficulties faced by young people to further their education, I founded the HEON (Help Educate Our Nation) Project in 2015 to provide disadvantaged students with full scholarships to attend either college or a recognised skills centre. The project raises funds by hosting an annual dinner, and by selling promotional items such as t-shirts, bags, and stickers as well as sourcing sponsorship from local businesses.”
Before establishing the HEON Project, Edwards was the President of the River Sallee Youth Alliance, which aims to foster a strong community spirit through after-school programmes, activity weeks and clean-up campaigns.
Her team is now expanding the HEON Project to attract more supporters and help even more students to receive a quality education.
The HEON Project’s President is encouraging interested people wishing to make a donation towards the project to come forward and do so.
“If you want to be a part of this great initiative, you can like our facebook page, its HEON project Grenada or like our Instagram page at HEON Project _Grenada, you can also send us an email…Heon [email protected] or you can call us [at] 419-9128.”
Edwards will be among 60 young people from across the Commonwealth between the age of 18 and 29, to be recognised as exceptional leaders in their community. These 60 young people will receive the prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders Award at Buckingham Palace in London in mid-2018.
