US hauling firm gifts 20 laptops to four western Jamaica schools battered by Hurricane Melissa

Twenty laptop computers have reached four high schools across western Jamaica through a gift arranged by a United States team headed by Jamaica-born Roman Cowan.

Cowan, who serves as president of College HUNKS Hauling Junk and Moving, was joined by colleagues Omar Soliman, Nick Friedman, David Barr, Miles Kass, Bryan Meany, Cos Losco, Bret Bailey, Ted and Steven Panebianco, and Kayle Squillario. The firm operates in the United States and Canada. Together they backed an effort to help institutions still feeling the effects of Hurricane Melissa.

Food For The Poor Jamaica handled the handover as part of its wider work to strengthen education and support young people. Each of the four schools received five machines to aid classroom teaching, independent study, research and digital skills.

Munro College, Westwood High School, St Elizabeth Technical High School and Little London High School were chosen because they sit in communities that took a hard blow from the storm. Melissa left deep losses in its wake, upending daily life, wrecking property and piling fresh pressure on students trying to keep up with lessons.

In a release, Food For The Poor Jamaica said the timing mattered, with more schools weaving technology into everyday instruction. The charity noted that dependable equipment is still out of reach for many campuses and that the new laptops should narrow that divide by opening more room for pupils to build the skills they will need later on.

The organisation praised the gift, stressing that backing schools and students tends to pay dividends for entire communities over time.