Sunbeam Boys Home is now Fibre Fast Free Upgrade From Flow Foundation
The management and residents of the Sunbeam Boys Home in Spring Village St. Catherine have renewed enthusiasm and excitement about their online schooling thanks to an upgrade of their fixed internet service by the Flow Foundation. The Home was recently migrated to the company’s fibre fast network, which delivers a more reliable service at faster speeds, significantly more than what they previously had access to.
The free upgrade was part of Flow’s corporate social responsibility commitment through its Mission Week initiative, which is spearheaded by parent company Liberty Latin America (LLA). Mission Week was celebrated between November 15-19 in all LLA markets and is driven by employee volunteerism as team members, supported by the company, donate their time, energy and knowledge to various causes in their communities. Flow also contributed a substantial allotment of food, personal hygiene, and sanitization products to the Home.
Flow’s Vice President and General Manager and Chairman of the Flow Foundation, Stephen Price, shared that the objective of Mission Week is to make a positive impact on communities and people through employee volunteerism and resource support.
“Mission Week represents our commitment to serve the communities in which we operate. We have a responsibility to enable progress and build more resilient communities by driving digital inclusion and supporting vulnerable and in-need persons. When our community thrives, we all do,” said Price.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the Sunbeam Boys Home has been engaged in online schooling, which had put additional strain on its Internet resources. According to Natalie Whitley, Office Manager at the facility, the upgraded internet service will better enable uninterrupted learning for the boys and allow different teams to use the internet simultaneously.
“This upgrade to our internet is tremendously welcomed and is a blessing. During the days when the boys are in school, we are unable to do any form of Internet work in the office, and there are times when the boys themselves cannot get online because the previous plan that we had was not able to meet our additional demands. So, we are really grateful for this upgrade and look forward to a continued partnership with Flow,” said Whitley.
Under the mantra ‘Enabling Progress Through Digital Inclusion’, the Flow Foundation partners with various third-party agencies to help identify those in need. The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) has been a long-time partner of Flow and was instrumental in facilitating the upgrade.
Robert Williams, Regional Director, South East Region of the CPFSA, said Flow has been an exemplary corporate citizen. “The outpouring of love towards the boys in terms of the internet boost we got from Flow today is really appreciated. The boys will use it to help them in their online schooling and it will assist with the operations of the Home,” said Williams.
Williams continued, “Also, the food items and sanitizers will go a long way in helping to better manage the budget. Feeding boys is a big thing and there can never be too much food because we have to give them a balanced meal, so their nutrition has been enhanced and we are very grateful for that as well.”
The Flow Foundation is committed to fostering an inclusive digital future through connectivity. Other initiatives since the start of the year include upgraded Internet services at the Mustard Seed Community facilities, the donation of devices and/or data to 300 students across the island as well as the provision of free high-speed internet service to more than 250 schools.
