Help Jamaica Recover from Hurricane Melissa

Hello, my name is Mariah Rankine-Landers, author of Do Your Lessons Love Your Students? Creative Education for Social Change. I come from a mixed-lineage family and reside in the United States (I was born here-saying this out loud due to Go Fund me rules). My father is Jamaican and I have brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles and a league of cousins and extended kin that live there.

A Category 5 hurricane is striking Jamaica on October 27–28, 2025. When I called my brother this morning to check in, it was the first time I had ever heard defeat and a tremor of fear in his voice.

My kin are safe for now. They have boarded up their homes and have enough food and water for the next few days. But as I told my brother, surviving the hurricane is one thing. The aftermath is where help will be needed most.

My family lives in St. Elizabeth (St. Bess), a region predicted to face landslides and road closures that will make it difficult for relief to reach them. My sister, Ngozi Rankine, is an extraordinary organizer and community leader. Together, we are raising funds to reach directly into the heart of the Jamaican people.

We are working with local schools, churches, and community networks to meet the most immediate needs of families. Our first priority is to distribute care packages that include:

Rice, flour, and sugar

Tinned goods and Lasco

Bathing soap and toothpaste

Clean drinking water

Each care package costs about $30 USD.

If you are able, please consider sponsoring half a package ($15) or a full package ($30) to help us get essential supplies to families as quickly as possible.

Every contribution helps. Every act of love matters.

Thank you for standing with us, for believing in the strength and beauty of Jamaica, and for helping us move from survival to recovery together.

One Love-

Mariah Rankine-Landers + Ngozi Rankine

Update 10/28 4:50 pm PST: We cannot reach family as cell towers and power is out deep in the St. Bess mountains. We are hearing from folks near the coast who still have access to a cell tower and some source of power. We will keep you posted.

Update 11/1/25: Family is alive but everything has been destroyed. Communities that are in this area between Santa Cruz, Black River, and Montego Bay are on a mountain range that is blocked. So far no one has reached in or out of the area. We are waiting for supplies to be dropped in.

Update 11/3/25: Community members and family have reached supplies in Mandeville. The terrain is unimaginable making a two hour trip more like 6 hours or longer. Communities living in the mountains are still waiting for services and support from the government to arrive. We are almost at our 5k goal!!