ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Only Action News Jax got the chance to go inside the St. Augustine Airport, where a small crew of volunteer pilots from Jacksonville Beach loaded their personal planes with emergency supplies that they’ll fly to the Caribbean Islands, where communities are left devastated after Hurricane Melissa.
“They need everything,” said Tim Aldrich, one of the pilots, “but this is just emergency relief. All we can do in these little planes is, you know, give them a little bit of relief.”
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Action News Jax first told you about the group of volunteer pilots on Tuesday, when we learned Jimbo Stockton would be leading the team to the islands over the weekend.
He took Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin up in his plane for a practice flight ahead of the five and a half hour trip.
“The boats are going to take, you know, a week or two to get in there,” Stockton said, “but these planes can get in there right now and give survival-type food and necessary things.”
Stockton and the other pilots are flying supplies like water, fruits, dry foods, trash bags, toilet paper, and even a cooler full of eggs to areas hard-hit by Hurricane Melissa.
But they aren’t the only ones sending supplies from the southeast. Action News Jax learned that MAP, a global medicine company based in Brunswick, has already sent 20,000 disaster relief kits to Jamaica, and more are on the way.
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“Floridians are not uninformed about what happens in these kinds of disasters. Now multiply that by much larger and you’ll have an idea of what’s happening in Jamaica,” said Chris Palombo, president and CEO of MAP.
Stockton and Aldrich aren’t sure what kind of devastation they’ll find when they land, but the planes are loaded and the trip starts Friday morning. They are planning to return on Sunday.
“It’s a sea of need, we’re pouring a cup of help into it. So we hope to help, that’s all,” Aldrich said.
A number of donations and fundraisers have opened over the last week to support those who have been impacted by Hurricane Melissa. If you’d like to donate, you can learn more at the link here.
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