Hello. I'm Tim Morton and Carol Balds is my wonderful Jamaican mother-in-law, otherwise known as "Mommy." Mommy is in her 70s and finds it very hard to walk. Mommy lives in Montego Bay, where she started and ran a little middle school, which she practically ran as a charity, without profit. She has just retired and has no money to speak of.

Mommy is a pillar of her community and one of the kindest and wisest people I've ever known. She is also the mother of my wife, Treena, and I owe my life to both of them. Carol's son, Richard, is a pastor who calls me "big brother," although this is absurdly untrue: Richard is bigger than me in soul and in body.

Carol lives in Montego Bay, which was hit so terribly by Hurricane Melissa. Video footage of the streets near her house, just a few minutes' walk from the seashore, says it all.

Treena and I have about thirty relatives and friends in Montego Bay, and we won't know how they're all doing, or if they're doing at all, until much later. Mommy's house was totally flooded and her tin roof ripped away.

SIX weeks later, people in Montego Bay are still without water and without power. Where my family lives, Westgreen and Catherine Hall, is twenty minutes' walk across the flat to the ocean.

I feel powerless to help. I would like to help Carol rebuild her life. I had this idea that Mommy, as a rock for her community, would be a good person to support. Carol could also help distribute funds to others in need in Montego Bay.

Thanks to you, Mommy has donated $1000 of the funds we have raised through her church, to shut-ins such as Jennifer, who is blind, and a family who lost their entire roof.

Then there's my niece, Zarie, her dad, Richard, her mom, Carla, and so many other people...

Thank you.

Right now your donation will help us buy and send solar generators and portable chargers. You will also help us to get satellite phone services, and soon you will be aiding us in purchasing solar cookers, composting toilets and water sterilizing pens. It will also help us to continue funding Mommy's effort to reach out to members of her community.

I'll keep you updated every step of the way.