Stories

From the Foundation

News, updates, and stories from our work and our community of supporters.

September 11, 2026 · Jamaica Education for the Poor Foundation

Leadership Skills Young People Actually Need

Not vision or charisma. The skills that decide whether a nineteen year old can hold a job, run a shift, or speak up in a room.

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September 8, 2026

What Youth Leadership Development Actually Teaches

Leadership gets talked about far more than it gets taught. Here is what the skill is actually made of, and why it matters most for young people who have never been put in charge of anything.

September 7, 2026

Youth Mentorship vs Youth Leadership Programs: What Each One Does

They get used interchangeably and they do different jobs. Here is how to tell which one a young person needs.

September 3, 2026

What a Mentor Actually Changes for a Teenager

Not confidence in the abstract. Specific things: knowing what is normal, having somewhere to check a decision, and being noticed before a problem is expensive.

September 2, 2026

Why Mentorship Beats One-Off Charity

A visit is a photograph. A relationship is an intervention. Why JEPF builds its mentoring around staying in contact rather than showing up impressively once.

August 30, 2026

How a Community Organization Can Actually Support Young People

Most youth programming fails on follow-through, not intent. What separates the efforts that stick from the ones that hold one great event.

August 26, 2026

The Small Costs That End a Jamaican Child's Education

It is almost never one dramatic thing. It is a uniform, exam fees, and bus fare arriving in the same month. Why JEPF's work looks so unglamorous.

August 26, 2026

Why Leadership Training Matters More for At-Risk Youth

Young people with stable homes get this training by default. The ones without it are the ones who need it deliberately.

August 22, 2026

What Makes a Good Youth Mentor

Not accomplishment. The volunteers who do this well share a short and unglamorous list of traits.

August 19, 2026

Where Your Donation Goes, and Why We Will Not Quote You a Percentage

Straight answers about what JEPF does with money, who gets paid, and why you will not find an overhead ratio on this site.

August 18, 2026

How to Start Mentoring a Young Person

What the first few months actually look like, what to commit to, and the mistakes that end the relationship before it starts.

August 14, 2026

What At-Risk Young People in Jamaica Are Actually Up Against

A clear-eyed look at the obstacles between a capable Jamaican student and finishing school, without the disaster-photography framing.

August 12, 2026

How Nonprofit Sponsorship Actually Works for a Local Business

What a business gets for sponsoring a nonprofit, what it does not get, and why the JEPF supporter directory is not a link farm.

August 10, 2026

Why Education Support Matters in Jamaica

The case for funding the unglamorous end of education, and why supplies and fees do more than they look like they should.

August 6, 2026

How Mentorship Helps Jamaican Youth Specifically

Why the diaspora is unusually well placed to mentor, and what a mentor can offer that money cannot.

August 5, 2026

Ten Years of Caribbean Festivals, and What They Were All For

Howard County Fairgrounds, Veterans Plaza, Rosecroft Raceway. Every event JEPF has run in this area since 2016, and where the ticket money went.

August 2, 2026

Youth Leadership Development in Jamaica

What leadership programming looks like when it is designed for Jamaican students rather than imported wholesale from somewhere else.

July 29, 2026

What to Expect at the JEPF Food & Wine Festival

Caribbean food, wine, live music and a family crowd. What the day is actually like, and what your ticket pays for.

July 29, 2026

How to Support Education Programs in Jamaica

Money, goods, time, or a business. What each one is good for, and how to check the organization you are giving to.

July 25, 2026

Ways to Donate to Youth Programs in Jamaica

One-time, recurring, earmarked, corporate, goods, or a ticket. Which of these actually suits what you want to do.

July 22, 2026

Why Support Businesses That Give Back

Every business in the JEPF directory applied, was reviewed, and contributed. Here is what that is worth to you as a customer.

July 21, 2026

What a Leadership Training Center in Jamaica Would Change

Why a building, when the same money could buy a lot of textbooks. The argument for permanence, stated honestly.

July 17, 2026

How Your Donation Supports JEPF

The route a donation takes, from the card form to a student, with nothing dressed up.

July 13, 2026

One-Time vs Monthly Donations: Which One Actually Helps More

The same annual total behaves very differently depending on how it arrives. A straight explanation from the receiving end.

July 9, 2026

How Nonprofit Donations Are Used, and What to Ask Before You Give

Overhead ratios, restricted gifts, and the questions that actually tell you whether an organization is any good.

July 5, 2026

Ways a Business Can Support Youth Programs

Six options, from a supporter listing to lending a skill, with what each one costs and what it returns.

July 1, 2026

Meet the Businesses Giving Back: Local Companies Supporting Education Beyond Their Community

Meet the local businesses in our supporter directory: Midland Floor Care, All Purpose Anytime Services, Drywall Pros DC, Tagglefish, and Divine Cleaning.

July 1, 2026

Five Ways Prince George's County Residents Can Help Children in Jamaica This Year

You don't have to be a business owner to make a difference. Here are five ways any Prince George's County resident can help this year.

July 1, 2026

Our Community Business Directory: Supporting Local Businesses That Support Education

Every listing in our directory is a Prince George's County business that chose to give back. Here's why that matters — and why it's worth your click.

July 1, 2026

How Your Business Can Help Educate Children in Jamaica (Without Writing a Huge Check)

You don't need a five-figure donation to make a real difference. Here are affordable ways your business can sponsor education in Jamaica.

July 1, 2026

Why Education Changes Communities: Lessons Shared Between Prince George's County and Jamaica

Two communities, one lesson: education is what breaks the cycle. Here's why our foundation serves Jamaica while staying rooted in Prince George's County.

July 1, 2026

Back-to-School Resources for Prince George's County Families (2026 Guide)

Free school supplies, backpack giveaways, library programs, tutoring, and more — a 2026 guide to back-to-school resources near you in Prince George's County.

July 1, 2026

How Corporate Sponsorship Supports Community Programs

What corporate money does for a small nonprofit that individual giving cannot, and what companies should expect in return.

June 27, 2026

Donating Goods Instead of Money: What Actually Helps

Which items get used, which ones cost more to handle than they are worth, and why you should call before you collect anything.

June 23, 2026

What Sponsoring a Community Organization Does for a Business

The honest version, without the corporate social responsibility language. What you get, what you don't, and when it is the wrong spend.

June 19, 2026

How Local Businesses Can Support Youth Programs

Practical options for a business in Prince George's County or the DC area, including the ones that cost nothing.

June 15, 2026

Event Sponsorship vs Program Sponsorship

One buys visibility on a specific day. The other buys a sentence you can say all year. Which suits your business.

June 11, 2026

How JEPF Business Sponsorship Works, Step by Step

The whole process: apply free, get reviewed, pay after approval, go live. Including what we turn down.

June 7, 2026

What Nonprofit Sponsorship Does That Advertising Doesn't

A fair comparison, including the places where advertising simply wins.

June 3, 2026

The Questions Business Owners Actually Ask About Sponsorship

Cost, deductibility, what happens if you cancel, whether it helps your search rankings, and whether we will vouch for you.

May 30, 2026

A Guide to the Caribbean Food and Wine Festival

What the day involves, what to bring, how to get the most out of it, and where the ticket money goes.

May 26, 2026

How a Jerk Festival Pays for a Child's Exam Fees

The odd-looking but straightforward route from a ticket sold in Maryland to a student staying in school in Jamaica.

May 22, 2026

Why Community Fundraising Events Still Matter

Online giving is easier for everyone involved. Here is what a real event does that a donation page cannot.

May 18, 2026

Caribbean Cultural Events in Maryland: A Short Field Guide

Where they happen, what distinguishes a good one, and what to expect if you have never been.

May 14, 2026

Food and Wine Festivals Near Washington, DC

What is on offer around the DMV, how the Caribbean end of the circuit differs, and how to pick one worth the drive.

May 10, 2026

Jerk and Barbecue Festivals in the DMV

How the jerk festival circuit works around Washington, what separates the real ones, and where JEPF's fit in.

May 6, 2026

Volunteering at a Community Festival: What the Day Is Actually Like

The jobs, the hours, what to wear, and why event volunteering is the easiest way into a nonprofit.

May 2, 2026

How the JEPF Business Directory Works

For businesses and for customers: what the directory is, how a business gets in, and what the listing does and does not claim.

April 28, 2026

What You Get as a JEPF Business Supporter

The full list of what a supporter listing includes, stated plainly, including the things it deliberately does not include.

April 24, 2026

Local Businesses Supporting Youth Development

Why small businesses end up doing more for community youth programming than most institutions, and how to find the ones that do.

April 20, 2026

How Business Sponsorship Actually Supports a Nonprofit

What predictable business income lets a small organization do that donations and grants cannot.

April 16, 2026

What a Supporter Listing Includes

A plain inventory of the listing itself: the fields, the page, the link, and how it appears in search.

April 12, 2026

What a Youth Nonprofit in Hyattsville Actually Does All Year

An honest account of the work between festivals: book drives, fee requests, coordination, and the unexciting middle of the year.

April 8, 2026

How to Check Out a Nonprofit Before You Donate

Five checks that take ten minutes, including the ones that catch organizations describing plans as though they were progress.