Burger King to the rescue - Company plans to assist top student with school fees

Shannon Marshall, the 18-year-old whose dream of studying medicine seemed bleak when she reached out to THE STAR earlier this week, is filled with hope again after Restaurant Associates Limited, the franchise operator of Burger King in Jamaica, agreed to fund her school fee.

"I am feeling hopeful now," Marshall told THE STAR after she got the news. "I feel like it really possible that I can start UWI now because one of the times it wasn't looking like I would. This is what I was praying for all along because I was applying for scholarships from last year actually, so it's a dream come true right now."

Last week, Restaurant Associates Limited held its annual scholarship awards ceremony, where it awarded almost $3.5 million in scholarships to students attending secondary and tertiary institutions, Ricardo Brooks, sponsorship manager for Burger King, told THE STAR.

Outstanding student

Despite having handed out all the scholarships they had planned for this year, Group CEO Richard Lake was moved by Marshall's story, and indicated that they would make an exception for the outstanding student.

"We awarded almost $3.5 million in scholarship this year, and we have awarded $30 million since 2000. Our group CEO Richard Lake actually saw the story in THE STAR, and decided that it is something that we should look into," Brooks said. "There are some details that we still have to work out like how much we will give, but we are working those things out now."

Marshall's dream is to become a medical doctor a dream she has had since she was six years old when her parents got shot trying to protect her from the bullets gunmen rained on their home one night. However, plans were put on hold when Marshall could not find the funds to pursue the science and technology course that she plans to do before taking on medicine next year.