TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Groups in Tallahassee are organizing and mobilizing to send help to Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa made landfall on the island this week.
Hailey Thompson, vice president of the Jamaican American Student Association at Florida State University, said the organization has created a GoFundMe to try to collect as much as they can to send back to the island.
Thompson said the hurricane has been affecting her emotionally, as she hasn’t heard from her family since Monday, before the storm hit.
She said the neighborhood they live in was one of the last places Melissa churned through before exiting Jamaica.
“Unfortunately, I have yet to hear from my family,” she said. “I have been hearing news reports from other people from online through like Twitter, Instagram, and they’re basically saying like, from like St. James to St. Anne, where I’m from, that entire stretch has been out of cell service. I’m hoping that’s the reason and that they’re okay.”
Thompson says JAMSA is also planning to host donation drives on campus to collect items like clothing, non-perishable food items, and school supplies.
She says they’ve already been in contact with other chapters of JAMSA at FAMU, UCF and UF.
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