The American Caribbean Maritime Foundation Celebrates

Jewett City, CT – “Desperately looking for a chance to change his life, and living in a shelter in a Caribbean country with double-digit unemployment, Horatio got that chance he so desperately needed and ran with it achieving success way beyond what might be reasonable to expect. “I take this opportunity to thank the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation for your continued support of students at the Caribbean Maritime University over the years. I am also extremely excited to inform you that I have managed to complete my degree… the first in my family to achieve this goal,” says Horatio Mclean, Class of 2020 in Jamaica.

Horatio continues, “With your (ACMF) help and commitment, I was able to rise above the fact that I was a homeless individual at the Marie Atkins Night Shelter. No doubt this journey has really brought me to a place that I had to learn to appreciate everything in life (good or bad). I sincerely hope with all my heart that my story and ACMF will continue being a light for students like myself.”

Heart warming words from one of the ACMF Scholars who, although talented and staying out of trouble, found himself in a difficult situation after high school with no opportunity. Against all odds, Horatio has achieved his dream of acquiring a maritime university degree and is pressing ahead to a Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain, applying to the Caribbean Maritime University Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain program.

“This is what the ACMF is all about — truly transforming lives”, says Founder and ACMF President, Dr. Geneive Brown Metzger. Dr. Roland Malins-Smith, scholarship benefactor, and donor to the construction of a Lecture Theatre in his name at the Caribbean Maritime University in Kingston, Jamaica, says, “The shipping industry holds great promise for jobs and a future for these kids who will be able to work anywhere in the world. I cannot be more proud to support the foundation.”

The ACMF will host its annual exclusive benefit event, the virtual gala with presenting sponsor Tower Isle Frozen Foods. The event will help the ACMF fund full-tuition and room board scholarships, and laptops for low-income Caribbean students in the maritime industry. With this generous charitable event, Caribbean students will be able to complete their education in the upcoming academic year and get extra support overcoming unprecedented challenges. While the COVID-19 pandemic has put thousands of Caribbean students at risk, the ACMF is leading the charge to keep the next generation of maritime professionals on track with their education and build a thriving maritime sector, one of the most critical in the Caribbean economy.

[Students at one of the three institutions where the ACMF funds scholarships, the Caribbean Maritime University in Kingston Jamaica.]

“The work of the foundation has never been more critical than now when already financially challenged students are struggling to continue their education online, due to the global health crisis.

The Anchor Awards 2020 will honor two of the maritime industry’s top brass who have been recognized as proud partners of the Caribbean, Win Thurber, Chairman and CEO of Norton Lilly International; and Rick Sasso, Chairman of MSC Cruises USA.”

Tickets are $150 each, and along with sponsorships can be purchased on the ACMF website at https://gala.acmfdn.org/.

About the ACMF

The American Caribbean Maritime Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) foundation committed to alleviating poverty and transforming maritime education and community development. The ACMF currently supports thirteen scholarship recipients, and in 2018 funded a lecture theater in the name of one of its donors, Roland Malins-Smith.

To learn more about the ACMF, please visit acmfdn.org/about.

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