Dear friends, loved ones, and colleagues,
As some of you already know, for a number of years we've been supporting a caring, generous, and community-minded Jamaican family who we love very much. Rainford Brown is our dear friend who helped us in supporting abandoned children in an underfunded semi-rural hospital in Morant Bay, Jamaica when we were working there under the auspices of a non-profit, and he was instrumental in that work. He now serves as an orderly in that same hospital where we once volunteered with abandoned children -- some of whom had HIV -- and he risks his life regularly to tend to patients in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We've been committed to making sure that his now 10-year-old son, Nkhuma -- our godson -- is able to attend public school, and to that end we fund -- without fail -- his uniforms, shoes, books, meals, transportation, and tuition (yes, tuition for poor people to go to school).
Now, our most urgent project is to assist Rainford in expanding his very modest 2-room non-hurricane proof home so that he and his other five family members can have a safe, dry place to live, especially during hurricane season, which is now beginning in earnest.
So far, we've paid outright for the clearing of the land; digging and pouring of the cement foundation;, and the installation of the rebar for the walls (this has included both materials and labor). Now we're in need of urgent funding for the completion of the walls and roof, flashing, and other details that are absolutely necessary to maintain a tight, waterproof home in the Jamaican bush.
While your donations are not tax-deductible, there is zero overhead, and 100% of your money goes directly to Rainford and family (after GoFundMe's admin charge) so that they (4 adults and 2 children) can live safely; use a brand new sanitary pit toilet; as well as a nice, clean, and dry space for the children to do homework and play.
This is the work of our hearts, and changing the lives of one family can have an impact on many generations. If we can raise at least $3,000 in the next few weeks, the house can be completed, and Rainford and family — including the two school age boys, Nathanael and Nkhuma — can look forward to having a sturdy home that will last many years, even in increasingly severe weather spurred on by climate change.
Thank you for a donation of as little as $5. Every dollar helps, and your generosity will be appreciated by a family who, like so many others, deserves safety, a sense of home, and a leg up in a challenging world.
At such a time in the world, it helps the heart and soul to be able to impact someone else's life so directly. We are all so very privileged; please help us help those who need even a small slice of the freedom and privilege that we enjoy every day.
With love and gratitude,
Keith Carlson & Mary Rives