Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, along with other county officials, on Tuesday, boxed up hurricane relief items and are urging others to lend a hand too after Hurricane Melissa touched down in Jamaica..
“Everyone can volunteer,’ again, this place will be swarming with volunteers, and that gives us all hope and makes us all feel proud,” Levine Cava said.
Global Empowerment Mission, headquartered in Doral, specializes in this, as they gather, sort and box items needed after a hurricane passes.
Founder Michael Capponi said they’ve learned over the years.
“In the Haiti earthquake, for example, there was 21,000 registered organizations, the first six months of that, none communicating with each other, each doing their own thing,” he said.
And it created more of a mess.
GEM is centralized, storing, organizing and shipping much-needed items from their Doral warehouse directly to areas where they’re needed the most.
“I wanted to just point out that I have a friend there,” said Wendy Hart with American Friends of Jamaica.
Hart held back tears when talking about her country, the storm and the hardships Jamaicans are currently facing.
“Their houses are falling apart around them, their jobs are in jeopardy, their schools, their clinics, so the response need is going to be terrific,” she said.
Organizers said there are three ways you can help: By donating items, donating your time and/or donating cash to help with shipping costs because it’s expensive sending tons of relief items into disaster zones.
Organizers are waiting for airports to open, and then they will go from there.