These photos only begin to show what was once a thriving little community in St. Elizabeth parish in Jamaica. Hurricane Melissa did the unthinkable and wiped out just about the entire parish, leaving just the remnants of many houses and untold devastation. These people still live there; they still have hopes to rebuild.

Previously, I had made a Facebook post about needing canned goods, and those are still needed. I should have learned a little more about what's as important before I made my post. Some of these houses belong to my wife's family members, and some of them are just completely gone. Almost no house in the region has a roof left on it, and the reason I'm doing a GoFundMe is to help raise some funds that will go directly to them. The value of the Jamaican dollar is so poor that one American dollar equals about $158 Jamaican. I'm not an economist, but it doesn't take one to know that help is needed, and the only way to get it directly to them is to go through someone who can get it to them because big blanket donations are often in the hands of the government there, and it is pretty well known that the government in Jamaica is corrupt and money will disappear.

Jamaican people by themselves are industrious, clever, and purposeful. A little bit of our money goes a long way to helping. I am doing this on behalf of Donna, her family, and her community members over there who haven't been able to come over here yet because of paperwork and bureaucracy. St. Elizabeth is home for them, and home is gone right now. They have very little food, even household goods and utensils, all that blown away, and help is needed pretty quickly. Please help with whatever you can. And also, as I posted on Facebook, anyone that has canned goods, especially canned meats and things like that, please get in touch. Those goods will be on their way to New York, and a barrel is waiting for them up there, and that will happen pretty quickly. And as I said, I will be happy to pick up any donations that you might have for food and things like that around the Metro Atlanta area. I don't have a lot of things to do these days, so this is something worthwhile. Thank you on behalf of Donna, myself, and her friends and family who need this help badly.