(Trinidad Express) Fast food franchise McDonald’s and the Just Because Foundation (JBF) said yesterday they respected the decision made by Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan to refuse a US$10,000 donation to the JBF Paediatric Specialty Unit at the Wendy Fitzwilliam Paediatric Hospital at Mt Hope.
On Monday, Khan said in the House of Representatives that he would be writing to the foundation, advising that no money from fast food enterprises should reach the children’s hospital.
“We have to protect our children and we have to decide, if we want to make sure that they grow healthy and don’t have the expense in the future, of kidney problems,” he said.
Kenrick Attale, executive director of Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, which handles the advertising for McDonald’s, responded yesterday, “We totally respect the minister’s view and it is within his right.”
Vice-president and co-founder of JBF Noel Joseph told the Express by phone yesterday: “At this stage, we understand the minister’s decision as the overall custodian of the health and wellness of the nation. We did note that he said he would write to us and we will await that. Based on the contents of that letter, we will seek dialogue with the minister and then make subsequent comments.”
Joseph said the donation was not specifically for the Mt Hope Children’s Hospital, but rather the JBF Unit’s programmes and activities run specifically by the foundation.
“We are aware that there were policies where a donation cannot directly be made to a hospital,” he said.
“The Ronald McDonald House Charity is a globally recognised charity organisation, and before they came into Trinidad, they did their research to look for similar organisation that provided support for children, and the JBF was shortlisted for a donation, not the hospital per se.
Some of the team visited the Unit and based on what they saw, they wanted the donation to go towards something tangible that would provide active support.”
