Miami-Dade Mayor To Commemorate 60th Anniversary of Jamaican Independence at Diamond Jubilee 5K Gallop

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava will be on hand to help kick off the Diamond Jubilee 5K Gallop on Aug. 27 and to celebrate Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence.

Levine Cava, the first woman mayor of Miami-Dade County, will proclaim August 2022 as Jamaica’s Diamond Jubilee Month as she supports the inaugural 5K fundraising event that will benefit schools in Jamaica.

“I call upon the good people of Miami-Dade County to join me in noting the rich and vast contributions brought to our way of life by Jamaica and those of Jamaican descent,” said the mayor, who in her 40-year career has served as a social worker, lawyer and advocate for South Florida families.

“We’re honored to have Mayor Levine Cava kick off the 5K Gallop and recognize the rich Jamaican culture that thrives in South Florida and will be on display at the event,” said pediatrician Dr. Tina Carroll-Scott, the 5K founder and organizer.

More than half of the fundraising goal of $60,000 already has been raised, said Dr. Carroll-Scott, medical director of the South Miami Children’s Clinic, which is presenting the event in association with the Consul General of Jamaica, Southern U.S.A. The proceeds will go to help schools in Jamaica recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

To register or make a donation, visit https://5kgallop.org. The fee to participate in the 5K gallop or 5K trot/walk is $30, or $15 for the “likkle pickneys” ages 2 to 9 years old. Any primary through secondary school in Jamaica is eligible to receive funding, though there must be a minimum of 60 team participants (including donors who don’t attend the event) for a school to become a beneficiary.

At the event, Mayor Levine Cava will present the following proclamation on behalf of the Miami-Dade County Commission and the community residents:

“Historically, Miami-Dade County has been known to embrace the rich cultural diversities and contributions made by individuals, organizations and institutions that have added to our varied heritage and enhanced our quality of life; and

Sixty years ago, in February 1962, a new Constitution for Jamaica was approved by the legislature and the Premier Norman Manley, called General Elections, and Alexander Bustamante was elected and became the first Prime Minister of Jamaica; and

On August 6, 1962, Jamaica became an Independent Nation and a member of the British Commonwealth, which meant that Britain no longer controlled the affairs of Jamaica.

This year marks the 60th Anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence, and on April 14, 2022, the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honorable Olivia Grange, launched Jamaica’s 60 program of activities at Jamaica House, Kingston; and

On May 6, 2022, Jamaica’s 60th Anniversary of Independence was launched in South Florida, hence it is fitting and proper that official acknowledgment be given to Jamaica on the momentous occasion of its Diamond Jubilee;

BE IT RESOLVED, THAT I, DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA, MAYOR OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, CHAIRMAN JOSE “PEPE” DIAZ AND THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, ON BEHALF OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND THIS COMMUNITY, do hereby proclaim, August, 2022, as Jamaica’s Diamond Jubilee Month.”