Staff and Board of Directors
The Free Town Foundation directors and volunteers’ loyalty to the Foundation, its children and families are unmatched. Their commitment to the Free Town and neighboring communities have often made the difference between starvation and survival, school attendance and dropout, and they are dedicated to providing a future of uplifting families and moving them towards healthy lifestyle, workforce development and increasing economic stability.
Cecelia Campbell Livingston is a member of the Miracle Tabernacle Free Town Church of God of Prophecy. She sits on various committees in her parish of Clarendon – the Clarendon Parish Development Committee, Windalco Benevolent Society and she is the PRO for her community of Longville Park. She has a passion for serving and volunteerism which led to the formation of the Free Town Foundation. By profession she is a journalist working as the Clarendon correspondent for the Gleaner.
Meet Our Executive Director
Cecelia Livingston-Campbell
How we got started
The Free Town Foundation was created as an outlet for the Miracle Tabernacle Free Town Church of God of Prophecy to deliver more tangible service to those in the church and the community at large.
About 17 years ago, Cecelia stumbled upon a mini treat that was being put on by a member of the church. It was just a few sandwiches and some ‘rubber toys’. She made a pledge that would do everything in her power to make the next treat a better one.
With on-air campaign, donations started coming in which allowed many more children to receive toys and treated to cooked meals.
The annual even continued and expanded to include back-to-school supplies and scholarships, a few years later.
As the events grew, there was one problem -- it was costing the few serving members heavily as they had to pay a little below the commercial rate for the shipped donations (even though the most the donations were free, there was a cost for clearing and transporting). It was then, Cecelia and Pastor Aiken had the idea to register as a charitable organization which would cut their clearing cost a great deal.
How we got here
Operating from ‘hand to mouth’ constantly reaching out to friends and relatives to ensure each event can be properly organized and each person who attend receive something was not a sustainable, and it was becoming exhausting for everyone involved. In July, a family friend who is a management consultant in the US, was visiting his brother, noticed how much time, effort, and funds the family was spending to purchase supplies and transport them to Jamaica for our distribution.
He was given Cecelia’s contact information and reached out to determine if the Foundation would be interested in him providing them with pro-bono assistance to transform it into a more formal and sustainable entity with Bylaws, policies, and Board of Directors. Also, a name change was recommended for ease of use and ensure prospective donors and partners could remember it – change from the “Free Town Church of God of Prophecy Outreach Foundation” to the “Free Town Foundation”.
Board of Directors
The Free Town Foundation has formulated and engaged a Board of Directors which will provide leadership, stewardship, oversight, fundraising, and other support to the Foundation and advance its visions of becoming a viable, reliable, and sustainable nonprofit that is nationally recognized as a vital part of the surrounding areas for its history of supporting and inspiring children, strengthening families, and impacting communities.
Officers
Chair: Michael Laidlaw
Treasurer: Andrea Shakespeare
Secretary: Carol Officer
Patrick Gordon
Donna Smith
Shenelle Neath
Nasshon Thompson
Opal Thompson
Yonique Cardoza
Derrymour Patrick
Carl Reid
Sydnee Fraser