ORLANDO, Fla. – Central Florida organizations are jumping into action to provide relief for people impacted by Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.
Despite the island suffering damages, both Debbie Jolly-Jarrett and Lurna Franklin with the Jamaican Cultural Connection, are looking ahead to its recovery.
“I’ll tell you one thing about Jamaicans, we are resilient, and we rebuild really fast,” Jolly-Jarrett said.
Jolly-Jarrett and Franklin are asking for help collecting donations through their organization to help people in Jamaica after Beryl.
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“There is destruction to farming and housing, and actually infrastructure has been damaged,” Franklin said.
Jolly-Jarrat tells us many places inland were impacted by the storm.
“Saint Elizabeth was hit, Mandeville was hit, and a place called Clarendon was hit,” Jolly-Jarrett said. “Now I’m hearing yesterday that three schools have been damaged.”
Franklin said they were working on packing supplies before the storm.
“We were already packing barrels to be sent which is what we do as an outreach there,” Franklin said. “We have supplies that we are sending to hospitals and clinics.”
Jolly-Jarrett tells us everything is needed in Jamaica right now.
“The needs are food, clothing toiletries, things for clinics and for schools,” Jolly-Jarrett said.
The organization is accepting physical donations such as non-perishable food items, clothing and medical supplies, but they are also accepting money to help people purchase supplies already on the island and to help them rebuild.
“For instance, in Clarendon, a lot of roofs were taken off of houses and so they need money to help rebuild,” Jolly-Jarrett said.
If you’re interested in dropping of donations the organization has two locations, one in Kissimmee and one in Deltona. The Kissimmee location is at WCRR-FM 721 Verona Street, Kissimmee, FL. If you’d like to drop off in Deltona, you can call 407-669-2091 and ask for Veronica.
For more information on donations, head to the JCC donation website.
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