For more than four decades, Operation Friendship has been at the forefront of change – transforming the lives of hundreds of otherwise hopeless youths who for the most part would have been condemned to a future without purpose and through no fault of their own. Indeed, most of the young people who have benefited from your operations are mostly “drop outs” from the formal high school system.

Without the change possibilities offered by Operation Friendship through its vocational service training and other areas, most of these youngsters would easily end up, without hope, on the scrapheap of the unemployable and as a further burden on an already inadequate public resource base.

From its location in the heart of West Kingston’s inner-city industrial belt, Operation Friendship has served as a virtual haven in an otherwise troubling and crisis-riddled community. And, while over the years, the organization has been tested, it is to your credit that the commitment to the vocational training and development has remained resolute and the purpose of your being, firmly unshaken.

Whether in areas of auto-body repairs, cabinet making (and dare we say the kitchen cupboards of Operation Friendship are a favourite among Jamaicans), welding, information technology or apparel and drapery, Operation Friendship has succeeded, year after year, in giving hundreds of young Jamaicans a solid foundation for a more purposeful and productive future.

In appreciation of your tangible and significant assistance in developing the vocational skills of thousands of Jamaican youth, The Rotary Club of New Kingston is proud to recognize Operation Friendship with its Outstanding Vocational Service Award for 2004. We salute your determined, steadfast and continuing contribution to the cause of human development by changing the lives and bringing hope to these young people.