Organizers in the Greater Toronto Area have begun work to collect donations and supplies for Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean island nation on Tuesday.
The Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation , an organization based in Markham that helps build schools and upgrade classrooms in the country, says it is urgently calling on its partners, donors, volunteers, and friends to donate money as the Category 5 storm made landfall, bringing with it a torrential downpour.
“Hurricane Melissa is disrupting lives across Jamaica, and families are facing devastating loss,” the national organization’s founder Karl Hale said in a news release.
“Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation needs everyone’s support now so we can provide immediate relief and begin rebuilding, especially for the children, their schools, and their communities.”
The group said its schools can serve as shelters in many parishes to protect families displaced from their homes as flooding is an imminent threat.
It is asking people across Canada to assist by making a donation through its website .
Toronto’s Little Jamaica community, in the city’s west end, is also organizing relief efforts to support those affected by the devastating impacts of the hurricane.
“This powerful storm has the potential to inflict severe damage to the island, and leave many in urgent need of assistance,” the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust and Reclaim: Eg West said in a joint statement on Instagram.
The fundraiser said all proceeds will be donated to the Jamaica Red Cross.
Besides making a donation, the groups says medication, batteries, clothes, hygiene kits, first-aid kits, blankets, infant and baby supplies, flashlights, and non-perishable goods are also needed.
“Together, we can help provide essential supplies, and offer hope to those who have lost so much,” they said.
Items can be donated this Saturday, between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., at Studio M, 1672 Eglinton Ave. W.
