We are farm workers represented by the United Farm Workers (UFW) Union that travel from Jamaica to work on the H2A program in New York. We have formed an emergency committee to organize this fundraiser; we are: Owen Salmon (Black River, St. Elizabeth), Conale Thomas (Black River, St. Elizabeth), and Martin Griffiths (Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth)

Many of us were working at farms across New York state at the time Hurricane Melissa battered and flooded most of our island of Jamaica. We were helpless to look on from New York while still going to work everyday, not knowing if our families were okay.

The apple harvest season has ended in recent weeks, and many of us have returned back to our homes in Jamaica only to learn that they were badly damaged and in many cases totally destroyed by the hurricane. Some of us still don't have electricity, signal to talk on the phone, or even roads to safely travel in between our communities.

Several of us workers at Wafler Farms, Cahoon Farms and other NY farms represented by the UFW union started sharing amongst ourselves how the hurricane mashed up our homes and communities, and agreed we are stronger together in meeting this challenge. So we are coming together to share our stories, and we are asking for your support in helping us rebuild our homes as well as the homes of our fellow NY farm workers and union brothers who also lost their homes.

As of now we know of about 20 of our union brothers across the island who have lost their homes due to Hurricane Melissa, and our goal is to raise enough money for all of us to rebuild our homes (purchasing building materials, hiring people to help us labor on our homes and if possible replacing furniture and electronics destroyed by the storm).