Help Our Jamaican Workers Rebuild Their Lives After Hurricane Melissa

This past summer, our incredible team of H2B workers from Jamaica poured their hearts and energy into helping our restaurants in Bar Harbor, Maine run smoothly through our busiest months. They left their homes and families behind, many leaving young children with relatives, to work hard and earn money to uplift their families and communities back home.

Then Hurricane Melissa struck.

Hurricane Melissa has torn through the Montego Bay and Trelawny regions, the very places our team calls home. Entire communities have been destroyed and cut off. Roads are washed out, power lines are down, and there’s no clean water, electricity, or reliable cell service.

Most of our workers haven’t heard from their families since before the storm hit on Tuesday, October 28th. They’re heartbroken, anxious, and desperate for news — terrified about what they might learn once communication is restored.

For those few who have been able to reach loved ones, the reports are devastating:

Homes completely destroyed or buried in debris.

Families left with nothing, no roof, no access to food, no safe water.

Children and elders displaced, unsure when or if assistance will arrive.

Our team members are desperate to get home and help rebuild. We are housing and feeding them in the meantime, but it is very hard knowing the suffering happening back home.

Your donation will go directly toward:

Rebuilding homes that were destroyed.

Purchasing power tools and building materials.

Providing food, clean water, and other essentials to families in need.

Transportation costs once travel to Jamaica becomes possible again.

These are some of the hardest-working, kindest people you’ll ever meet, people who spend their summers far from home, serving and cooking for people form all over the world. Now it’s our turn to stand beside them in their moment of need.

Every dollar makes a difference. Please give what you can, share this page, and help us bring hope and stability back to the families who have given us so much.

Thank you for your compassion, generosity, and humanity.

Together, we can help them rebuild their homes, and their lives.

The photos are taken by family members of the people this fundraiser will help. The last photo is of much happier times when I went to visit last winter.

I am Christopher Kemna, the General Manager of the restaurant group these fine people help operate. I am organizing this fundraiser and will be responsible for the distribution of the fund.