10 community heroes to receive Arthur Guinness funding

Sizzla headlines 2012 Arthur Guinness concert

Guinness is celebrating everyday heroes and community enrichment as part of this year's Arthur Guinness Day, which will be celebrated on September 27.

Arthur Guinness Day is the global event recognising the life and work of Irishman Sir Arthur Guinness, the founder of Guinness Stout.

Sir Arthur was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and all-round lover of people who always gave of himself to help others. This year, Guinness will be identifying 10 people who have these same qualities and who support social initiatives to better their commu-nity and its residents. This will be done through the Arthur Guinness Fund, which, in the past three years, has donated approximately US$9 million (JA$810 million) to social programmes across the world.

"This year's Arthur Guinness Day will have more significance as it will not only be a celebration of Sir Arthur, but also of great Jamaicans who embody the characteristics of Sir Arthur by dedicating themselves to helping others," said Guinness Brand Manager Racquel Nevins.

The shortlisted community heroes are a combination of people nominated by their peers in their respective communities and persons enrolled in the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in Montego Bay, which was partially funded through the Arthur Guinness Fund. Their body of work will be reviewed by a panel of judges and 10 projects will be selected to receive support through the Arthur Guinness Fund.

The Arthur Guinness Day concert on September 27 at the National Indoor Sports Centre will also be a celebration of the community heroes. The concert will be headlined by Sizzla who, only last month, was voted by the public as one of dancehall's greatest icons of all time.

Both the Arthur Guinness Fund initiative and the Arthur Guinness Concert represent a "celebration with substance", and build on the new Guinness campaign 'Made of More'. With goodness as the core value of Sir Arthur and the Guinness brand, Guinness' focus will be on celebrating people who show that they are 'Made of More'.

(from Jamaica Gleaner)