JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Students at one Duval elementary school spent this morning getting ready to send toys, school supplies, and other useful items they collected for children in Jamaica.
The relief comes a little less than a month after Hurricane Melissa swept across the island, causing widespread damage.
“Because a lot of them have lost their homes and their toys, and it’s really hard, and sending these can actually give them hope, and they can make them feel much better,” student Emily Babcock said.
Alimacani Elementary School launched a schoolwide service project to support children in Jamaica as soon as they heard that many people there lost everything after Hurricane Melissa.
“And notecards because they lost their school, they don’t have anything anymore, “ Presley Moyeno-York said.
Students, parents, and staff at the Intracoastal West Elementary School spent weeks gathering toys, school supplies, and essential items. They ended up filling 30 boxes for children attending Unity Primary School in Westmoreland, Jamaica.
Students like Moyeno-york are writing letters of support for those kids.
“I wrote, just know we are thinking about you, and it’s really sad that you don’t have your home or your school, so something to help you out,” Moyeno-York said.
“Wish them hope that these toys and things bring them smiles that they take out things because it’s what they love to play with, and they want them to be able to play with it too,” Alimacani Elementary School Principal Robyn White said.
“It is overwhelming. It is really a blessing just to see the amount of items that was given,” teacher Racquel Traill said.
That helps hit close to home for Traill, who is originally from Jamaica. Her onetime home is near the Unity Primary School, where the items are going.
“The kindness that’s going through the people that are in need right now, especially our children, the young generation,” Traill said.
Traill still has family members in Jamaica who were directly impacted by the storm. They are helping coordinate the collection drive and delivery of the donated items.
“It is bad they still don’t have electricity. There are some places that don’t have water,” Traill said.
Organizers at Alimacani Elementary say they need to go buy an extra barrel for everything that was donated. Then they will ship the donations to Jamaica, which will get there in about 6 weeks.
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