Dear friends and supporters,

Since hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica, life is nothing like what we previously knew. While me and my eldest sons have been chopping through fallen fruit trees trying to salvage what little is left of our farm. All we can do is be grateful and start making steps towards a brighter future, because what we experienced is nothing compared to what so many others are going through. All of the international aid is being directed to the west of the island, and rightly so because there are so many people there who are literally left with nothing.

However, there are many parts of the island that have been left to fend for themselves, like most of Trelawny, St Mary and St Ann, where I live. Therefore, I’ve decided to start a fundraiser for my local community as there are many here who cannot afford to rebuild or buy food and essential items. Prices have gone through the roof and the farms have been destroyed, even if they wanted to travel into town a lot of the local transportation aren’t running due to the scarcity of petrol. We live just outside OCHO RIOS where the main industry is tourism. In my community, there are many who have been told not to come back to work until mid-December. People are worried and do not know what to do for food, money and essential items.

We have already been through the community and have identified many people in desperate need. Please donate what you can and over the next few weeks we will be dividing the money up and delivering it to the poorest families and independent farmers who are having to start from scratch.

Anything you can give no matter how small will make a difference, the time is now… let’s come together in support of the people of Jamaica.

With gratitude,

Natty