Overview

The purpose of JAMAKIN ME SMART is to raise monetary funds and in-kind school supply donations for Jamaican students and support programs geared toward the positive self-development of youth. Although Jamaica is known to many as a luxurious tourist location, the cost of living is very high and after the primary school level of education there are no forms of public high schooling. All students are required to pay their school fees each term, which can be quite costly. The school supplies available in Jamaica are very limited compared to the United States and are very expensive. Growing up, our Founder and CEO, Adrianna Boulin was blessed with the opportunity to spend summers in Jamaica visiting her family and growing with her cousins and peers within the community. The older that she became, the more cognizant she was of the disparity that exists in Jamaica. School shopping with her cousins was not like school shopping in the states. School shopping was a much bigger task and only supplies that were absolutely necessary could be purchased, as her aunts and uncles had spent months saving for it. Compared to her school shopping where every year she would purchase in excess; getting notebooks in every color, back packs to match outfits, markers, colored pencils and crayons. She realized around age 17 that there was a big difference and that it was a difference that I wanted to change. With this in mind came the creation of “JAMAKIN ME SMART”, starting as a project, now a 501(c)(3) non profit organization organization, with the purpose of collecting school supplies for the ambitious students of Jamaica and encouraging the positive self- development of youth. JAMAKIN ME SMART was founded on September 14, 2008, and incorporated on August 19, 2015.