Impacting the lives of children living in extremely volatile communities in Kingston, St. Catherine and Clarendon, through music, has been the mantra of the FFP Jamaica’s Band Camp Programme. According to Jeffery Brown, Musical Instructor, and staff member at FFP, the programme, which officially started in 2010, has been an extremely successful initiative, that continues to produce yearly growth.  

The idea to start a Band Camp in Jamaica came to light following a FFP mission trip in 2009. The group of persons visited the island to teach high school students how to play musical instruments. With Jeffery’s years of experience, the added knowledge following the mission trip and the continuous donation of musical instruments to the FFP warehouse, the team saw it fit to begin teaching youths the art of playing music.

Over the years, Food For The Poor’s Band Camp has successfully trained over 700 inner-city youths, between ages six (6) to sixteen (16) years. They are taught to play a variety of musical instruments including, the saxophone, flute, trumpet, drums, and clarinet.

For many, music is life and music save lives. This is a life skill that will produce continuous benefit. Particularly for youths, life skills can help navigate the challenges of everyday life while enabling young people to develop into healthy, responsible, and productive adults.