Eleven days after Hurricane Melissa hammered Jamaica, a tractor-trailer packed with supplies left Colonie on the way to help island residents suffering from the aftermath of the Category 5 storm.
The trailer -- filled with food, personal-care supplies, and some 30 bicycles, donated by local organizations and companies like Walmart – was off to New Jersey, where it will be loaded onto a ship traveling to the Caribbean.
The humanitarian aid effort was coordinated by Jezreel International, a local not-for-profit group founded in 1996 that has provided aid to 40 nations in need.
In their most recent newsletter, Pastor Charlie Muller, of Albany’s Victory Church, and Jezreel staff sent out a request for help to Jezreel’s 2,000 local newsletter subscribers.
“Usually when there's a disaster like this, what happens is we can make connections with, connections that we already have around the world," said Muller. "And this one particular one, Food for the Poor, they connected with us so that we can get shipments to them that are very much needed.”
In its call for help, Jezreel asked for contributions of non-perishable food supplies, baby formula and diapers, wipes, toilet paper and toiletries, tarps, bedding kits, buckets and solar lights and cleaning supplies.
“We're able to send box beds. We were able to send, and this was a real blessing for those in Jamaica - bicycles. Bicycles are so needed right now,”
Muller said.
According to the Capital District Regional Planning Commission, demographic data on the local Caribbean population shows the four-county region is home to some 3,800 residents who were born in Jamaica. This latest effort to help Jamaicans will likely be ongoing.
“And it's kind of exciting, because one tractor trailer is full and the next one will be being filled next week already, so we'll have two shipments down there that you know, it'll help so many of those that are struggling right now,” he said.
He added that Capital Region support for Jamaica could go on for another six months.
For WAMC, I’m Cailin Brown.
