Usain Bolt, Puma donate J$10 million to help rebuild storm-damaged schools

Sprint legend Usain Bolt, in partnership with global sportswear sponsor Puma, has donated J$5 million each to St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and his alma mater William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny to support recovery efforts after both schools were severely damaged by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa in late October.

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STETHS in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, suffered extensive structural damage, with the grade 11 block—critical for students preparing for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams—left entirely without a roof, according to JIS News. Roofs on other buildings, teachers’ cottages, the athletes’ dorms and sections of the perimeter wall were also hit, and the spectator stands were left in tatters. William Knibb reported that seven buildings on campus were damaged, six of them severely, including the loss of roofing.

The donations come on the heels of long-standing efforts by Bolt to support education and youth development across Jamaica. Through the Usain Bolt Foundation, the Jamaican icon has consistently invested in local communities, particularly in rural parishes like Trelawny, St Elizabeth, St Ann, St James and Clarendon. Earlier this year, the foundation contributed J$6.1 million in cash and kind to six rural high schools to help prepare students for the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Boys and Girls’ Championships, with William Knibb among the beneficiaries.

In addition to high school support, the foundation has donated essential supplies—including printers, hygiene stations and learning materials—to 21 rural early-childhood institutions across five parishes, assisting more than 1,200 children and their teachers the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bolt has also engaged in community outreach beyond schools. In Trelawny, his foundation partnered with the JN Foundation on charitable runs and other events aimed at raising funds for social services and facilities for vulnerable children, underscoring his commitment to his hometown and wider rural Jamaica.

Bolt’s relationship with Puma

Bolt’s relationship with Puma dates back to 2003, when the German sportswear brand signed him as a 16-year-old rising sprinter—a sponsorship that would grow into one of the most iconic athlete-brand partnerships in sport.

Over the years, Puma has not only outfitted Bolt at major global competitions but also utilised his charismatic persona as the face of its “Forever Faster” campaign and related global marketing efforts. In 2021, Bolt sealed a lifetime partnership deal with Puma, becoming the first track-and-field athlete to secure such an agreement, which extends his role with the brand beyond active competition and into lifestyle and cultural collaborations.

The partnership has also reinforced Puma’s broader support for Jamaican athletics, including sponsorship of high school track programmes and major events like the ISSA Boys and Girls’ Championships—platforms that have helped nurture generations of local talent.

Bolt, widely regarded as the greatest athlete of all time and a global ambassador for Jamaica, continues to leverage his influence and relationships to give back to the communities that shaped him—on and off the track.