The CAT 5 eye of hurricane Melissa, at about 175 mph, passed by our friend Duke and blew away everything he had. My wife, Rhonnie and I, live in Palm Bay, Florida, but have been a part of Dukes family for 38 years from the moment we met him and his family on our honeymoon. Due to his kind soul, caring for others, and a wonderful family, Rhonnie and I have visited and helped them when needed over the many years. But this situation is far worse than what we can handle on our own. Duke, one of the best, if not the best, wood carver in Jamaica had a small wooden shed at Mayfield Falls, where he called home and stored his tools, carvings, and belongings. The hurricane blew all of that away. While he lost his home, food and water are the immediate concerns. As he's high in the mountains at the waterfalls he worked at, he is far from the coast where the main hurricane relief programs are. The horrible roads that we drove on when visiting him a couple of years ago are even worse, if even there. We didn't hear from him until many days after the hurricane. As we knew the eye would travel close to or over him, we were extremely worried, especially knowing the lack of structures that could withstand a CAT 5 hurricane. He finally was able to go to another town that has generators and the use of spotty internet. You can't imagine the relief when he contacted us, and we could see his smile. In the meantime, we were able to contact his daughter, Keisha, that we have known since she was a baby, in Ocho Rios to see how the rest of the family made it through. Their home that Duke built many years ago, one cement bag at a time when he sold a carving, made it through the hurricane OK. But they are facing food, water, and power shortages and are starting to worry about disease. Her and her children are in dire need as well.

Note, after many years, we were able to get the paperwork through for Duke to visit us in the US a couple of years ago. We brought him to a classic Mini event in the NC mountains. It was his first time out of Jamaica and the first time he saw snow. Everyone fell in love with Duke as that is the type of person he is. Since the hurricane, I have been receiving emails and phone calls asking if he is OK and if they can help. That means a lot, as they only met him for a couple of days. That is another factor for me to use Go Fund Me. I know every friend I have around the world would buy Duke lunch once they met him and saw what a wonderful person he is. This is literally the chance to buy him lunch. A small donation will go a long way in Jamaica for Duke and his family.

The goal of this Go Fund Me is to first raise money for the essentials, food, water, supplies, to stay healthy. If there is enough money raised, it would also be used for Duke to get the wood and supplies to rebuild his small wooden home. As he is a carver and Keisha is a chef, they both depend on tourists, like most of the island. As you can imagine, the tourist industry will be affected for many months to come, so there is no quick fix for this disaster. It will affect the lives and economy of Jamaica for a long time. My goal is to help keep them going so they can see the day that life is at least somewhat back to normal.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and understanding the urgency to help. I will do my best to do follow ups and see if I can get some video of Duke, Keisha, and the rest of the family you would be helping. Right now, the connections are rare and weak. As Jamaica isn't on the direct list to make donations to, the donations will come to me, and I will transfer the money directly to Keisha's bank where she will get the money to Duke. Those that know me know I never ask for anything and I'm overly honest. If in doubt, look me up on Facebook or my past when I was known as The World's Fastest Clown and created a national drug prevention campaign in elementary schools through Nissan USA. I have spent most of my life helping others as that is where the joy is.

The attached pics (swipe the main picture to the left) are of Duke carving a classic Mini at his shop/home a couple of years ago at Mayfield Falls, Duke and his family around 1990 when Keisha was a child, and a group photo of the classic Mini event in NC when Duke stayed with us for a couple of weeks.

Thank you!

Mike Guido

Palm Bay, Florida