{"id":21056,"date":"2025-10-26T09:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/21056\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T09:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:56:10","slug":"central-florida-businesses-rally-to-send-aid-to-jamaica-before-hurricane-melissa-strikes-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/21056\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Florida businesses rally to send aid to Jamaica before Hurricane Melissa strikes island"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Melissa is now a hurricane,<\/a> meaning millions in Jamaica are in harm\u2019s way and could see flooded streets, power outages, and more. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s why several local businesses and organizations\u2014with families, friends, and ties to the island\u2014are preparing to help by sending resources and money to aid in recovery after the storm.<\/p>\n

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it\u2019s FREE)<\/a> | PINIT! Share your photos<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Mark Jathan, owner of Mark\u2019s Jamaican Bar and Grill, is gathering non-perishable food, first-aid supplies, and other essentials\u2014ready to send help to friends and family back home as Hurricane Melissa approaches. The rapidly growing storm reached hurricane status Saturday, and damaging winds and rain were expected to begin in Jamaica Saturday night, with a potentially devastating landfall forecast for early Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, the first thing we\u2019ll be concerned about is electricity,\u201d Jathan said. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s still part of summer on the island down here, so it\u2019s hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

I watched Jathan video-chat with his friend, Tara Carroll, who was on the island, where she also owns a restaurant. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe also cut some trees\u2014anything that\u2019s close to any wires,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cWe have to try and protect our personal stuff also, so we\u2019re just closed for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carroll says every donation will make a difference. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose things are so important because many businesses will be closed,\u201d she said. \u201cThey may not be accessible also because we are not sure what the damage may be.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as Jathan learned last year when he sent supplies after Hurricane Jeryl\u2014the cost adds up. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor shipping, you know, between two to four dollars on the whole station\u2014a big container,\u201d he explained. \u201cI mean, not the full container, but a regular-sized one. But if I can get some stuff on a flight\u2014bandages, first-aid kit items for the folks who might need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hoping neighbors and local companies will chip in, like the Jamaican American Association of Central Florida, which sent supplies last year and is gearing up to help again. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a minimum, maybe, because we will take care of what needs to be done,\u201d said Joan Edghill, president of the association. \u201cBut we might get more. Last year, a company called Dry gave us funds\u2014they gave us $1,500 toward it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Jathan, he hopes his island home can just hang on. \u201cWe are anticipating that it\u2019s going to have a major, major problem down there,\u201d he said. \u201cThe place is fully saturated, so flooding is one of the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to donate to JAAOCF click here. <\/a><\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Melissa is now a hurricane, meaning millions in Jamaica are in harm\u2019s way and could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[12864,12146,5097,1335,139,141,140,4715],"class_list":{"0":"post-21056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-hurricane-melissa","9":"tag-jamaica","10":"tag-melissa","11":"tag-orange-county","12":"tag-orlando","13":"tag-orlando-headlines","14":"tag-orlando-news","15":"tag-weather-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}