October 31, 2025 • 21 mins
Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm struck Jamaica on Tuesday October 28th. The devastation is so severe, the road to build back will be measured in months and years... not days. Food For The Poor, President/CEO, Ed Raine, unpacks how a deeply rooted network of partnerships and detailed preparation turns urgency into action: pre-positioned kits moving the moment the storm passes, church partners covering every corner of the island, and a command center that syncs government and private logistics to reach people without wasting a minute.
We discuss what matters first—clean water, hygiene, tarps, oral rehydration, women’s care kits, and baby supplies—and how blocked roads and power outages make coordination difficult. Ed widens the lens to see the damage: supermarkets and airport in Montego Bay flooded, hotels damaged, tourism paused, and wages stalled for thousands of families who rely on a steady economy. Recovery isn’t just cleaning mud and repairing roofs; it’s restarting lives. Once that happens, the long road of recovery begins: zinc and materials for homes, then training and market access for farmers and fishers tomorrow, so subsistence can become sustainable income.
Ed shares the personal stakes—staff still waiting to hear from loved ones, small towns hit hard, and the resilience that defines Jamaican communities. The goal is simple: meet urgent needs without losing sight of what brings dignity back to Jamaicans. Listen, share, and be part of the coordinated relief and rebuilding effort. Subscribe for updates, leave a review to help others find this story, and consider donating at www.foodforthepoor.org/Melissa25 to turn compassion into action.
To Donate to Hurricane Melissa Relief: www.foodforthepoor.org/Melissa25
Beyond The Plate is a podcast by international charity, Food For The Poor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Hurricane Melissa arrived in Jamaica and just
completely decimated the entireisland.
SPEAKER_02 (00:06):
There's a person behind every one of these homes,
towns.
It's personal.
Everybody's got a story.
Everybody's going to have adifferent level of need as the
island sort of picks up thepieces here.
You just gotta literally scrapethe mud off and start again.
They will find a way to thrive,but they're gonna need a lot of
help.
And there's a lot of peopleworking extremely hard.
(00:27):
The only way this can work isthrough a unified and
coordinated approach.
We're connected and open linecommunication the whole time so
that the left and the right handreally know what's what's going
on.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
This is Food for the Poor, but we're not just food.
We go beyond the plate todiscuss a full range of
development programs, alldesigned to break the cycle of
poverty.
SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
By empowering people with the tools and training they
need to transform their livesfor generations to come.
SPEAKER_00 (00:53):
These stories will inspire you, and best of all,
you can be part of the changethat takes place.
SPEAKER_01 (00:57):
Join us as we go beyond the plate.
Well, welcome to Beyond thePlate.
Um, it is with heavy heart thatwe actually have this episode.
A lot of times we we talk aboutthe mission of Food for the
Poor, and um we have um anopportunity to talk with a bit
(01:19):
of urgency and seriousness.
This is this actually thisactually hits home.
This really hits home.
Um, not only for me personally,um, but it hits home for pretty
much everybody in this building,including our guest, president,
CEO of Food for the Poor.
Ed Rain, welcome, Ed.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Thank you guys.
Good to be here.
Uh and yes, uh, I'm married to aJamaican.
Uh, she grew up in Kingston, anduh so she has a brother and
sister there, and uh we know somany people.
So, you know, the anxiety inthis building was palpable this
week.
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (01:50):
Uh and I know for sure that there's many people
who have not heard yet fromtheir relatives.
SPEAKER_01 (01:54):
On Tuesday, October 28th, while many of us were
beginning our day, sending ourchildren to school, going to
work, activities, uh threemillion people in Jamaica were
being pounded with probably theuh largest hurricane that has
set foot on Jamaica's soil, ifnot the entire Caribbean in the
(02:15):
Atlantic Basin.
Ninety years, right?
Okay.
Category five, HurricaneMelissa, uh arrived in touch
ground on New Hope, Jamaica, thesouthwest portion of Jamaica,
and just completely decimatednot just the western,
southwestern, but we're talkingabout the entire island.
(02:35):
Now, last year, uh the last timewe had you on Beyond the Plate,
we were talking about HurricaneBeryl, which grazed the southern
part.
And it was by no means a smallhurricane.
The thousand homes werecompletely destroyed.
But this is a lot different, Ed.
SPEAKER_02 (02:52):
This this storm really This feels more like you
should compare it to HurricaneAndrew.
We were saying that for many ofus, including myself, you know,
and family members whose houseswere impacted, destroyed uh back
then.
And and so the nightmare ofHurricane Andrew returns to us.
But it's that severe.
And that eye of the storm thatacross that western part of
(03:12):
Jamaica is like it's beendescribed to me as like it's
it's like a buzzsaw.
It just, you know, it's atornado.
So we don't even know what theuh, you know, what the the
status is.
We can't talk to people.
Like I I was told that even ourmission yesterday to go west
only got as far as Black River,the hospital there, and and
there were no roads uhaccessible beyond that, further
(03:34):
west.
So, you know, we wait uhpatiently to hear, but uh we're
very very nervous for some ofthose communities.
SPEAKER_00 (03:41):
Where do you start to rebuild or think about where
do I put all this stuff togetherso I can now move on with what's
next?
SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Well, you know, uh I think the first part is that uh
you look around you to see whereyou can get some immediate
support.
And uh typically that's eithergoing to be the you know, the
municipality that'll they havesomething set up, or the church.
Yeah.
So, you know, for Food for thePoor, we've got 42-year history
in Jamaica, and on a routinebasis every month, uh we send
(04:09):
out distributions to just almost40 different um, and they're all
nearly all churches.
So, and then they send out toother churches, all
denominations across the island.
So we have this kind of completenetwork of distribution in
Jamaica already.
We've had it for years.
So what's sort of going on nowis we gotta, you know, prime
that pump, get more and moregoing through it.
(04:31):
But as we learn exactly whichcommunity is most, you know,
seriously affected, thenobviously we're gonna
prioritize.
Um, but uh so I would say,Danny, that the thing is that
you wake up, you gotta figuresomething out.
You go to you go to the the cityhall or you go to the church.
And so um we are very muchcoordinated with the government.
(04:52):
In fact, uh Nakli Hero is uh thechairman of the emergency
response committee for the notfor the non-government sector.
Uh and uh so he's he's at a seatat the table with all of the
planning that the government'sdoing, so he he can make sure
that the NGOs are you knowproperly uh organized.
So that's you know the startingpoint is is the sort of things
(05:16):
that we've been packing for andthat we're shipping down.
So the you need a hygiene kit.
You gotta have somewhere toclean up.
Uh you need a you need acleaning kit to clean up
whatever you got left of ofwhere you're living.
Uh and we've seen some videocoverage today where you know
you see the waterline, thedebris of the waterline sort of
at the six feet level in MontegoBay.
So I I mean and it's it's gonnabe unimaginable just how many
(05:37):
homes uh that you know are justyou know, even if there are
walls, you've got to start withthe cleanup process.
SPEAKER_01 (05:43):
So that's where it starts, and then everything else
we do leads on from the Well,for those of you that want to
help and begin the process ofhelping Jamaicans, helping
families, helping Food for thePoor resource those pastors and
the ministry partners on theground, you can help right now
by going to foodforthepoor.orgslash Melissa25.
(06:04):
That's foodfor the poor.orgslash Melissa25.
There'll be a link.
You can there'll be a a pagewhere you can give and make your
best gift, whether it's disasterrelief items, whether it's food,
whether it's tarps, everythingthat families need to build
back.
Now, we talked about Knuckle andhis work down there, and I've
(06:24):
had conversations with him.
He is really dialed in withregards to things in this
nature.
But it didn't start, you know,the hurricane struck on the 28th
of October, Ed.
But this didn't start on the27th.
We were preparing from Knuckleand this team were preparing for
May.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Well, our whole organization, you know, prepares
for the hurricane season.
And so in I think it's fourcountries where we know that
they're most vulnerable andwhere we do our most work, we
pre-stage these kits.
So they sit there waiting forsuch an event.
So even though we're looking forthings right now, and today we
just sent out we're sending outthree container loads to just
(07:01):
today, uh, we're able to starton the ground immediately.
So the the team down there,thank God our facility, you
know, was intact, no no damage.
So we're able to operate.
So right from the beginning, wewere able to get the kits that
are already sitting there, andnow everything else is
replenishment, keeping thatsteady pipeline because the
need's gonna be so great.
SPEAKER_01 (07:20):
Yeah, we're talking about uh container loads of
items, hygiene kits.
We're talking about oralhydration.
We're talking about women's carekits.
Uh even something as f as assimple as baby diapers.
SPEAKER_02 (07:36):
Yeah.
It's everything you need, justbasic hygiene, right?
I mean, you you gotta you justgotta literally scrape the mud
off and start again.
And and you start with yourselfand your children, and uh then
you then you pick up your headand you say, Okay, I need to
eat, I need to drink.
And it is it I mean, this isobviously not for the entire
country, but the country has atleast five hundred thousand
(07:59):
people in the swath of land thatwe're talking about.
We don't know the disposition ofhow many were affected.
We are now starting to hear someof the deaths uh in Jamaica.
But uh, you know, over the nextfew days I I fear that we're
gonna hear some really sort ofgrim statistics in terms of
deaths, of injuries, uh, of um,you know, the number of houses
(08:20):
affected, the buildings.
I mean, there are majorsupermarkets, for example, in
Montego Bay that were destroyed.
So the food, the retail foodoutlets in Montego Bay
significantly impacted rightnow.
So even if you got through okay,where are you gonna buy the
food?
Where is it coming from?
So, you know, this is the thingwe've got to keep in mind.
(08:40):
It's not just the people whosehouses have been destroyed, and
you can clearly see their need.
Everybody's gonna have adifferent level of need as the
island sort of picks up, picksup the pieces here.
SPEAKER_00 (08:50):
So again, this takes us down memory lane uh with
Hurricane Andrew.
Yes, we we we count ourblessings first when we see the
next daylight, but then the nextmove is our everything else is
either out of power, uh, roofsare probably caved in.
There is a no near store thatnow can help you, or the lines
are gonna be tremendous.
So I think now with with withwhat's going on in Jamaica, the
the the we now know that theisland is still without power.
(09:13):
Major, major uh uh parts of theisland.
SPEAKER_02 (09:15):
75% plus.
SPEAKER_00 (09:16):
That's a lot.
And uh roads are washed out,like we mentioned.
So uh we got to start thinkingabout who's getting left behind.
And I think that's where Foodfor the Poor steps in.
When we talk about the smalltowns, uh the elderly, single
moms, they don't know wheretheir next move is coming from.
And and these are the peoplethat the cameras, when once they
move on, they don't see anymore.
And that's why I think Food forthe Poor is is there before,
(09:39):
during, and after.
And once again, if you want tobe part of the initiative, part
of of this action of what we'retrying to get here, uh foodfor
the poor.org slash Melissa25.
Foodforthepoor.org slash Melissatwenty-five.
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
Uh really quick, Ed, because we we talked about all
of these things that areactually being shipped down, but
we actually have clearlyidentified partners that are
already on the ground right now.
We're talking about food andcooking supplies, uh, food
support and cooking supplies,clean water items, medical
supplies, uh, air transportationand logistics and distribution.
(10:18):
I mean, how vital is thesepartners in addition to what has
come through the community orcome through donations?
SPEAKER_02 (10:25):
Yeah, well, any one organization who thinks that
they can do it alone uh reallyuh is out of order.
Uh the only way this can work isthrough a unified and
coordinated approach.
So, you know, I think all uhdisaster response organizations
are are very much tuned into theworst thing that we can do, both
for ourselves and to each other,is to not work together, right?
(10:47):
Because then that looks likeduplication and waste.
So um so for example, I'vealready had meetings with uh the
World Food Program and UNICEF onthe ground.
They were actually in our officein Spanish Town yesterday for a
coordination meeting.
As soon as I land tomorrow, I'mgoing to Jamaica tomorrow.
Uh as soon as I land, uh, we'regonna pick up that and probably
head to the uh one of theministers' offices to get fully
(11:09):
briefed on exactly what thecountry is doing.
So that just starts it.
But then there are just so manycountless partners.
Today we had one of our majorshipping uh partners here.
They do 90% of the terminalspace in the from the in the
port in Jamaica is representedby them.
They're a longtime partner, Imean decades working with us.
They're here talking about howwe coordinate.
(11:30):
Um the uh the number oforganizations that have stepped
up, uh either offering F-rate orassistance with getting uh
people down there.
Um, all of this is, I mean, it'sbeen an overwhelmingly positive
response in terms of the the uhuh uh requests to help.
And so we've really got a we'vegot a little command center
(11:50):
here, uh emergency operationscenter that uh and as does our
facility in Jamaica.
So we've got we're connected atopen line communication the
whole time, so that uh it's ifwe're sitting next to each other
really coordinating so that uhthe left and the right hand
really know what's what's goingon.
SPEAKER_00 (12:05):
I'm feeling for those families of right now, I
mean, uh think about tourism.
Uh the Jamaica is very heavilydependent on tourism.
SPEAKER_02 (12:12):
I just I got it, I just got a briefing before.
We we know that some of thehotels uh sustain damage, but
not the entire hotel, right?
So there's usually a sp a spacethat is safe.
But there are 25,000 touriststhat were on the island and went
through this terribleexperience.
And a lot of them are on thatnorth coast, of course, around
the Matiga Bay and and all theway through to St.
Anne's uh and Otarias.
(12:33):
But I think anything left ofOcharias is is and west of
Otarias has probably got somesome significant damage.
So they're gonna they're gonnawant need to get back on their
feet as fast as possible.
And that's important because weneed the tourists back into
Jamaica.
That's a vital part of the youknow of the revenue into into
Jamaica.
And remember, it's it's it's notjust someone paying money to
(12:56):
stay something, it's employingall those thousands and
thousands of Jamaicans who relyon that job for their money,
their paycheck, to go and buythe food that we're now trying
to make sure they got availablefor them.
So uh it is it is reallyimportant.
And I think the human element,now we've talked about our staff
here and how how you know thedread that we had as we watched
this storm went by.
But you know, uh I just anexample.
(13:17):
We've had so many peoplevisiting our office in the last
few days.
One of them from the CoconutCreek Police Department came in
and said, you know, I'm aJamaican.
And uh and and uh and I'm reallyand I'm really concerned about
my uh hometown.
I said, All right, where was it?
And uh she said, Cambridge.
And I said, you know, I actuallyhave visited projects there.
I know Cambridge.
(13:37):
Um it was a school that webuilt, and I was there a few
years ago seeing it uh for about90 kids.
And and so it's not like I evenhave to uh to imagine what we're
talking about.
She happened to name a smalltown.
I it's it's it's uh you knowit's quite challenged in terms
of its economy.
It's uh it's it's you know, itstruggles on a normal basis.
But she just told me that thethen the Central Square was
(13:59):
devastated.
Uh and and and therefore, byimplication, she assumes that
the entire home that she grew upin, that in the hometown that
she grew up, uh is probablyseriously, seriously impacted.
And the and of course therecovery time and all this is
just so long.
So, you know, no flip of aswitch.
This is months and years torebuild.
Uh so you know, you get theemotion immediately.
(14:22):
I mean, she was, you know, itwas it was but it's so important
for us to know this.
There's a person behind everyone of these homes, towns, the
relationships that we have inSouth Florida with the Jamaican
community.
I mean, the huge portion of theJamaican diaspora is in South
Florida.
It's personal.
Everybody's got a story.
That's the point.
SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
So I'm having a conversation yesterday with Mark
Corey, part of our team here,and it was almost like very
emotional for him because he wastelling me about a man named
Roy.
Roy is a man that when Mark wasa little boy, grew up with his
father, worked for his family,just got his home re-roofed
through the help of food for thepoor.
(15:02):
Now Roy's home is gone.
And back to what you say aboutthis being personal.
So you've done I can't Iprobably every major network,
you've done an interview onevery major network.
You said you didn't do the onein Spanish on Telemundo, but I'm
I'm sure No, I can assure you Ididn't.
Okay.
Okay, okay.
(15:23):
Um I wish.
And and you have been in thiscommand center left after we
left.
I mean, we walked out the doorlate yesterday, and and you're
now headed to Jamaica.
SPEAKER_02 (15:33):
We started last Friday.
Uh we worked all over theweekend.
We've been in this commandcenter for you know now four
days straight.
Uh obviously the team in Jamaicais doing exactly the same.
So, and there's a lot of peopleworking extremely hard because
this takes a lot of time, a lotof coordination.
But you know what's reallyimpressive?
Uh, we said it earlier, youknow, that those that are
(15:55):
impacted, you know, the theimpact that we talk about is
about people and and what, youknow, their lives.
We need to say that rather thanabout their houses.
It's their lives that areimpacted.
And so the joy for us at Foodfor the Poor is to serve people
and build their lives.
And so that spirit is allthrough the Food for the Poor
staff.
You know, it's like we're allhere, we know what we're doing,
(16:18):
and and united in God's work,obviously.
Uh, our faith drives us, butit's truly about serving others.
And uh so, you know, people dowhatever they gotta do.
And I I have no idea how longI'll be in Jamaica and others.
Mark's leaving this afternoon,you know, so he'll be there.
Several of us are gonna be thereto just to sort of really help
the team down there with thelarge-scale coordination.
I think that's the piece thateveryone should keep in mind.
(16:40):
It's going to be a massivenetwork of you talked about the
all the partners.
Well, we've all got to get, youknow, straight with one another
about who's doing what and howand when.
It's a little daunting becausewe know how much work and how
many people are gonna be served,and the worse that the the
actual facts are once we get thefull uh damage assessment, only
then will we really know whatour work is gonna truly look
(17:01):
like.
SPEAKER_00 (17:02):
When when survival's survival is not just about food
and water, but actually abouthope.
How do we how do we keep peoplecaring after these headlines
have faded?
Um the the media moves too fast,for my opinion.
Um because that that's that'sthe attention span.
It's just it has to move fast.
As natural as human.
But how do we tell these storiesso people don't forget what
(17:23):
Jamaica's living through, right?
SPEAKER_02 (17:24):
I think it's a great point, Danny.
I think, you know, one of thethings I've I've been trying to
stress, even in the interviewsI've given, is that Food for the
Poor has been in Jamaica for 42years, about 40 years in Haiti.
So we can't forget Haiti.
They've also, you know, part ofthat has gone through this.
Um, and we're serving them, ofcourse.
But because we're we've beenthere for that length of time,
we have full credibility in whenwe say, well, we're not just
(17:47):
there for the short-term reliefefforts, that we are there for
the the mid and the long term.
So as even today, we're startingto talk about that mid and long
term.
What is it that we need to do?
So clearly, you know, being ableto get large quantities of zinc
for the roof repairs, and and weknow we're going to have, you
know, walls and construction.
So how does that all look got todeal with that?
(18:08):
But you know, one of the thingsthat Foo Fo was being very
intentional about in the lastyou know five or six years is
about this building lives forsort of sustainable um, you
know, development.
And so that very much looks atat the types of jobs that people
can get, that they're skilledand trained for, and that uh,
you know, that we're trulyhelping them get into uh the
(18:31):
commercial networks, so uhmarketplaces.
So if you're a a poor, uh youknow, a poor farmer, for
example, you're probably gonnagrow as many as much crops as
you can to eat.
It's subsistence.
We want you to thrive.
So let's get you connected tomarkets.
Um if you're a fisherman, samething.
You don't just fill up the boatwith enough fish to eat for the
next 24 hours.
(18:51):
You actually, if we can really ffigure out how best to help you
um, you know, fillet and packageand freeze and distribute, well,
that's a whole different thing.
And that's what Foof was reallyum intentional about.
I mean it's it's really hardwork, but uh um no one said that
to me this was gonna be easy.
SPEAKER_01 (19:11):
Well, as we get ready to wrap up, um this the
podcast is called Beyond thePlate, not on the plate.
So we're gonna go a little bitbeyond for a second.
I've been getting text messagesa pastor that's a very close to
me in Montego Bay, my cousinDavid, his sister Lorraine, and
their family in Ocheríos.
(19:32):
Everybody's okay, thank God.
How's your family?
SPEAKER_02 (19:36):
Good.
Well, I have a uh my wife'sbrother and sister live down
there, and nephews and nieces,and everyone seems to be okay,
thank God.
Because they live in Kingston,and Kingston was largely spared,
so it might have been adifferent story.
Um but uh you know I just goback to lots of our staff
members haven't heard from theirfamilies yet.
So they don't know the answer tothat question.
Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_01 (19:53):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (19:54):
Um so we truly pray for them uh and uh and for the
entire country of Jamaica,because this is gonna be a this
is gonna be a difficult uphill,you know, climb.
Uh and uh I think everyoneshould just know that Food for
the Poor has been there for 40years.
We intend to be there, let'shope, for at least another 40
years and and do something very,very meaningful in a very
(20:14):
organized and you know, reallyexhibiting the sort of good
Christian stewardship that youknow everyone would be sort of
satisfied to see us do, right?
This is about doing the rightthings right.
SPEAKER_01 (20:26):
Well, doing the right things right starts with
you helping us right now.
Go to foodforthepoor.org slashmelissa twenty-five.
That's foodfor the poor.orgslash Melissa twenty-five.
When we were here last yeartalking with Sadilla Marley
during Hurricane Barrel, and Isaid, your father's song, Smile
(20:47):
Jamaica, is what resonates in myheart.
I believe that everything thatwe're doing brings us back to
that point that we will seeJamaica smile again.
SPEAKER_02 (20:56):
Well, one thing I know, Jamaica is a resilient
country.
The people are resilient, and uhlet's just keep in mind we all
love Jamaicans, and uh so uhthey they will find a way to
thrive, but they're gonna need alot of help uh in that process
of of getting back on their feetin a in a in a way that uh you
know they can feel like there'sa bit more normalcy, but it's
(21:18):
gonna be tough for the next fewmonths.
SPEAKER_01 (21:19):
We ask you to please go to foodforthepoor.org slash
Melissa25.
That's foodfor the poor dot or gslash melissa twenty-five.
God bless you.
Thank you, Ed.
Thank you, guys.
Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_00 (21:36):
We hope you've felt the connection.
One plate, one story, one act oflove can change everything.
Discover more stories and joinour community at
foodforthepoor.org slashpodcasts and follow us too at
beyond the plate.podcast.
Together we can make adifference.
This is Beyond the Plate.
Hurricane Melissa arrived in Jamaica and just
completely decimated the entireisland.
SPEAKER_02 (00:06):
There's a person behind every one of these homes,
towns.
It's personal.
Everybody's got a story.
Everybody's going to have adifferent level of need as the
island sort of picks up thepieces here.
You just gotta literally scrapethe mud off and start again.
They will find a way to thrive,but they're gonna need a lot of
help.
And there's a lot of peopleworking extremely hard.
(00:27):
The only way this can work isthrough a unified and
coordinated approach.
We're connected and open linecommunication the whole time so
that the left and the right handreally know what's what's going
on.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
This is Food for the Poor, but we're not just food.
We go beyond the plate todiscuss a full range of
development programs, alldesigned to break the cycle of
poverty.
SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
By empowering people with the tools and training they
need to transform their livesfor generations to come.
SPEAKER_00 (00:53):
These stories will inspire you, and best of all,
you can be part of the changethat takes place.
SPEAKER_01 (00:57):
Join us as we go beyond the plate.
Well, welcome to Beyond thePlate.
Um, it is with heavy heart thatwe actually have this episode.
A lot of times we we talk aboutthe mission of Food for the
Poor, and um we have um anopportunity to talk with a bit
(01:19):
of urgency and seriousness.
This is this actually thisactually hits home.
This really hits home.
Um, not only for me personally,um, but it hits home for pretty
much everybody in this building,including our guest, president,
CEO of Food for the Poor.
Ed Rain, welcome, Ed.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Thank you guys.
Good to be here.
Uh and yes, uh, I'm married to aJamaican.
Uh, she grew up in Kingston, anduh so she has a brother and
sister there, and uh we know somany people.
So, you know, the anxiety inthis building was palpable this
week.
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (01:50):
Uh and I know for sure that there's many people
who have not heard yet fromtheir relatives.
SPEAKER_01 (01:54):
On Tuesday, October 28th, while many of us were
beginning our day, sending ourchildren to school, going to
work, activities, uh threemillion people in Jamaica were
being pounded with probably theuh largest hurricane that has
set foot on Jamaica's soil, ifnot the entire Caribbean in the
(02:15):
Atlantic Basin.
Ninety years, right?
Okay.
Category five, HurricaneMelissa, uh arrived in touch
ground on New Hope, Jamaica, thesouthwest portion of Jamaica,
and just completely decimatednot just the western,
southwestern, but we're talkingabout the entire island.
(02:35):
Now, last year, uh the last timewe had you on Beyond the Plate,
we were talking about HurricaneBeryl, which grazed the southern
part.
And it was by no means a smallhurricane.
The thousand homes werecompletely destroyed.
But this is a lot different, Ed.
SPEAKER_02 (02:52):
This this storm really This feels more like you
should compare it to HurricaneAndrew.
We were saying that for many ofus, including myself, you know,
and family members whose houseswere impacted, destroyed uh back
then.
And and so the nightmare ofHurricane Andrew returns to us.
But it's that severe.
And that eye of the storm thatacross that western part of
(03:12):
Jamaica is like it's beendescribed to me as like it's
it's like a buzzsaw.
It just, you know, it's atornado.
So we don't even know what theuh, you know, what the the
status is.
We can't talk to people.
Like I I was told that even ourmission yesterday to go west
only got as far as Black River,the hospital there, and and
there were no roads uhaccessible beyond that, further
(03:34):
west.
So, you know, we wait uhpatiently to hear, but uh we're
very very nervous for some ofthose communities.
SPEAKER_00 (03:41):
Where do you start to rebuild or think about where
do I put all this stuff togetherso I can now move on with what's
next?
SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Well, you know, uh I think the first part is that uh
you look around you to see whereyou can get some immediate
support.
And uh typically that's eithergoing to be the you know, the
municipality that'll they havesomething set up, or the church.
Yeah.
So, you know, for Food for thePoor, we've got 42-year history
in Jamaica, and on a routinebasis every month, uh we send
(04:09):
out distributions to just almost40 different um, and they're all
nearly all churches.
So, and then they send out toother churches, all
denominations across the island.
So we have this kind of completenetwork of distribution in
Jamaica already.
We've had it for years.
So what's sort of going on nowis we gotta, you know, prime
that pump, get more and moregoing through it.
(04:31):
But as we learn exactly whichcommunity is most, you know,
seriously affected, thenobviously we're gonna
prioritize.
Um, but uh so I would say,Danny, that the thing is that
you wake up, you gotta figuresomething out.
You go to you go to the the cityhall or you go to the church.
And so um we are very muchcoordinated with the government.
(04:52):
In fact, uh Nakli Hero is uh thechairman of the emergency
response committee for the notfor the non-government sector.
Uh and uh so he's he's at a seatat the table with all of the
planning that the government'sdoing, so he he can make sure
that the NGOs are you knowproperly uh organized.
So that's you know the startingpoint is is the sort of things
(05:16):
that we've been packing for andthat we're shipping down.
So the you need a hygiene kit.
You gotta have somewhere toclean up.
Uh you need a you need acleaning kit to clean up
whatever you got left of ofwhere you're living.
Uh and we've seen some videocoverage today where you know
you see the waterline, thedebris of the waterline sort of
at the six feet level in MontegoBay.
So I I mean and it's it's gonnabe unimaginable just how many
(05:37):
homes uh that you know are justyou know, even if there are
walls, you've got to start withthe cleanup process.
SPEAKER_01 (05:43):
So that's where it starts, and then everything else
we do leads on from the Well,for those of you that want to
help and begin the process ofhelping Jamaicans, helping
families, helping Food for thePoor resource those pastors and
the ministry partners on theground, you can help right now
by going to foodforthepoor.orgslash Melissa25.
(06:04):
That's foodfor the poor.orgslash Melissa25.
There'll be a link.
You can there'll be a a pagewhere you can give and make your
best gift, whether it's disasterrelief items, whether it's food,
whether it's tarps, everythingthat families need to build
back.
Now, we talked about Knuckle andhis work down there, and I've
(06:24):
had conversations with him.
He is really dialed in withregards to things in this
nature.
But it didn't start, you know,the hurricane struck on the 28th
of October, Ed.
But this didn't start on the27th.
We were preparing from Knuckleand this team were preparing for
May.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Well, our whole organization, you know, prepares
for the hurricane season.
And so in I think it's fourcountries where we know that
they're most vulnerable andwhere we do our most work, we
pre-stage these kits.
So they sit there waiting forsuch an event.
So even though we're looking forthings right now, and today we
just sent out we're sending outthree container loads to just
(07:01):
today, uh, we're able to starton the ground immediately.
So the the team down there,thank God our facility, you
know, was intact, no no damage.
So we're able to operate.
So right from the beginning, wewere able to get the kits that
are already sitting there, andnow everything else is
replenishment, keeping thatsteady pipeline because the
need's gonna be so great.
SPEAKER_01 (07:20):
Yeah, we're talking about uh container loads of
items, hygiene kits.
We're talking about oralhydration.
We're talking about women's carekits.
Uh even something as f as assimple as baby diapers.
SPEAKER_02 (07:36):
Yeah.
It's everything you need, justbasic hygiene, right?
I mean, you you gotta you justgotta literally scrape the mud
off and start again.
And and you start with yourselfand your children, and uh then
you then you pick up your headand you say, Okay, I need to
eat, I need to drink.
And it is it I mean, this isobviously not for the entire
country, but the country has atleast five hundred thousand
(07:59):
people in the swath of land thatwe're talking about.
We don't know the disposition ofhow many were affected.
We are now starting to hear someof the deaths uh in Jamaica.
But uh, you know, over the nextfew days I I fear that we're
gonna hear some really sort ofgrim statistics in terms of
deaths, of injuries, uh, of um,you know, the number of houses
(08:20):
affected, the buildings.
I mean, there are majorsupermarkets, for example, in
Montego Bay that were destroyed.
So the food, the retail foodoutlets in Montego Bay
significantly impacted rightnow.
So even if you got through okay,where are you gonna buy the
food?
Where is it coming from?
So, you know, this is the thingwe've got to keep in mind.
(08:40):
It's not just the people whosehouses have been destroyed, and
you can clearly see their need.
Everybody's gonna have adifferent level of need as the
island sort of picks up, picksup the pieces here.
SPEAKER_00 (08:50):
So again, this takes us down memory lane uh with
Hurricane Andrew.
Yes, we we we count ourblessings first when we see the
next daylight, but then the nextmove is our everything else is
either out of power, uh, roofsare probably caved in.
There is a no near store thatnow can help you, or the lines
are gonna be tremendous.
So I think now with with withwhat's going on in Jamaica, the
the the we now know that theisland is still without power.
(09:13):
Major, major uh uh parts of theisland.
SPEAKER_02 (09:15):
75% plus.
SPEAKER_00 (09:16):
That's a lot.
And uh roads are washed out,like we mentioned.
So uh we got to start thinkingabout who's getting left behind.
And I think that's where Foodfor the Poor steps in.
When we talk about the smalltowns, uh the elderly, single
moms, they don't know wheretheir next move is coming from.
And and these are the peoplethat the cameras, when once they
move on, they don't see anymore.
And that's why I think Food forthe Poor is is there before,
(09:39):
during, and after.
And once again, if you want tobe part of the initiative, part
of of this action of what we'retrying to get here, uh foodfor
the poor.org slash Melissa25.
Foodforthepoor.org slash Melissatwenty-five.
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
Uh really quick, Ed, because we we talked about all
of these things that areactually being shipped down, but
we actually have clearlyidentified partners that are
already on the ground right now.
We're talking about food andcooking supplies, uh, food
support and cooking supplies,clean water items, medical
supplies, uh, air transportationand logistics and distribution.
(10:18):
I mean, how vital is thesepartners in addition to what has
come through the community orcome through donations?
SPEAKER_02 (10:25):
Yeah, well, any one organization who thinks that
they can do it alone uh reallyuh is out of order.
Uh the only way this can work isthrough a unified and
coordinated approach.
So, you know, I think all uhdisaster response organizations
are are very much tuned into theworst thing that we can do, both
for ourselves and to each other,is to not work together, right?
(10:47):
Because then that looks likeduplication and waste.
So um so for example, I'vealready had meetings with uh the
World Food Program and UNICEF onthe ground.
They were actually in our officein Spanish Town yesterday for a
coordination meeting.
As soon as I land tomorrow, I'mgoing to Jamaica tomorrow.
Uh as soon as I land, uh, we'regonna pick up that and probably
head to the uh one of theministers' offices to get fully
(11:09):
briefed on exactly what thecountry is doing.
So that just starts it.
But then there are just so manycountless partners.
Today we had one of our majorshipping uh partners here.
They do 90% of the terminalspace in the from the in the
port in Jamaica is representedby them.
They're a longtime partner, Imean decades working with us.
They're here talking about howwe coordinate.
(11:30):
Um the uh the number oforganizations that have stepped
up, uh either offering F-rate orassistance with getting uh
people down there.
Um, all of this is, I mean, it'sbeen an overwhelmingly positive
response in terms of the the uhuh uh requests to help.
And so we've really got a we'vegot a little command center
(11:50):
here, uh emergency operationscenter that uh and as does our
facility in Jamaica.
So we've got we're connected atopen line communication the
whole time, so that uh it's ifwe're sitting next to each other
really coordinating so that uhthe left and the right hand
really know what's what's goingon.
SPEAKER_00 (12:05):
I'm feeling for those families of right now, I
mean, uh think about tourism.
Uh the Jamaica is very heavilydependent on tourism.
SPEAKER_02 (12:12):
I just I got it, I just got a briefing before.
We we know that some of thehotels uh sustain damage, but
not the entire hotel, right?
So there's usually a sp a spacethat is safe.
But there are 25,000 touriststhat were on the island and went
through this terribleexperience.
And a lot of them are on thatnorth coast, of course, around
the Matiga Bay and and all theway through to St.
Anne's uh and Otarias.
(12:33):
But I think anything left ofOcharias is is and west of
Otarias has probably got somesome significant damage.
So they're gonna they're gonnawant need to get back on their
feet as fast as possible.
And that's important because weneed the tourists back into
Jamaica.
That's a vital part of the youknow of the revenue into into
Jamaica.
And remember, it's it's it's notjust someone paying money to
(12:56):
stay something, it's employingall those thousands and
thousands of Jamaicans who relyon that job for their money,
their paycheck, to go and buythe food that we're now trying
to make sure they got availablefor them.
So uh it is it is reallyimportant.
And I think the human element,now we've talked about our staff
here and how how you know thedread that we had as we watched
this storm went by.
But you know, uh I just anexample.
(13:17):
We've had so many peoplevisiting our office in the last
few days.
One of them from the CoconutCreek Police Department came in
and said, you know, I'm aJamaican.
And uh and and uh and I'm reallyand I'm really concerned about
my uh hometown.
I said, All right, where was it?
And uh she said, Cambridge.
And I said, you know, I actuallyhave visited projects there.
I know Cambridge.
(13:37):
Um it was a school that webuilt, and I was there a few
years ago seeing it uh for about90 kids.
And and so it's not like I evenhave to uh to imagine what we're
talking about.
She happened to name a smalltown.
I it's it's it's uh you knowit's quite challenged in terms
of its economy.
It's uh it's it's you know, itstruggles on a normal basis.
But she just told me that thethen the Central Square was
(13:59):
devastated.
Uh and and and therefore, byimplication, she assumes that
the entire home that she grew upin, that in the hometown that
she grew up, uh is probablyseriously, seriously impacted.
And the and of course therecovery time and all this is
just so long.
So, you know, no flip of aswitch.
This is months and years torebuild.
Uh so you know, you get theemotion immediately.
(14:22):
I mean, she was, you know, itwas it was but it's so important
for us to know this.
There's a person behind everyone of these homes, towns, the
relationships that we have inSouth Florida with the Jamaican
community.
I mean, the huge portion of theJamaican diaspora is in South
Florida.
It's personal.
Everybody's got a story.
That's the point.
SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
So I'm having a conversation yesterday with Mark
Corey, part of our team here,and it was almost like very
emotional for him because he wastelling me about a man named
Roy.
Roy is a man that when Mark wasa little boy, grew up with his
father, worked for his family,just got his home re-roofed
through the help of food for thepoor.
(15:02):
Now Roy's home is gone.
And back to what you say aboutthis being personal.
So you've done I can't Iprobably every major network,
you've done an interview onevery major network.
You said you didn't do the onein Spanish on Telemundo, but I'm
I'm sure No, I can assure you Ididn't.
Okay.
Okay, okay.
(15:23):
Um I wish.
And and you have been in thiscommand center left after we
left.
I mean, we walked out the doorlate yesterday, and and you're
now headed to Jamaica.
SPEAKER_02 (15:33):
We started last Friday.
Uh we worked all over theweekend.
We've been in this commandcenter for you know now four
days straight.
Uh obviously the team in Jamaicais doing exactly the same.
So, and there's a lot of peopleworking extremely hard because
this takes a lot of time, a lotof coordination.
But you know what's reallyimpressive?
Uh, we said it earlier, youknow, that those that are
(15:55):
impacted, you know, the theimpact that we talk about is
about people and and what, youknow, their lives.
We need to say that rather thanabout their houses.
It's their lives that areimpacted.
And so the joy for us at Foodfor the Poor is to serve people
and build their lives.
And so that spirit is allthrough the Food for the Poor
staff.
You know, it's like we're allhere, we know what we're doing,
(16:18):
and and united in God's work,obviously.
Uh, our faith drives us, butit's truly about serving others.
And uh so, you know, people dowhatever they gotta do.
And I I have no idea how longI'll be in Jamaica and others.
Mark's leaving this afternoon,you know, so he'll be there.
Several of us are gonna be thereto just to sort of really help
the team down there with thelarge-scale coordination.
I think that's the piece thateveryone should keep in mind.
(16:40):
It's going to be a massivenetwork of you talked about the
all the partners.
Well, we've all got to get, youknow, straight with one another
about who's doing what and howand when.
It's a little daunting becausewe know how much work and how
many people are gonna be served,and the worse that the the
actual facts are once we get thefull uh damage assessment, only
then will we really know whatour work is gonna truly look
(17:01):
like.
SPEAKER_00 (17:02):
When when survival's survival is not just about food
and water, but actually abouthope.
How do we how do we keep peoplecaring after these headlines
have faded?
Um the the media moves too fast,for my opinion.
Um because that that's that'sthe attention span.
It's just it has to move fast.
As natural as human.
But how do we tell these storiesso people don't forget what
(17:23):
Jamaica's living through, right?
SPEAKER_02 (17:24):
I think it's a great point, Danny.
I think, you know, one of thethings I've I've been trying to
stress, even in the interviewsI've given, is that Food for the
Poor has been in Jamaica for 42years, about 40 years in Haiti.
So we can't forget Haiti.
They've also, you know, part ofthat has gone through this.
Um, and we're serving them, ofcourse.
But because we're we've beenthere for that length of time,
we have full credibility in whenwe say, well, we're not just
(17:47):
there for the short-term reliefefforts, that we are there for
the the mid and the long term.
So as even today, we're startingto talk about that mid and long
term.
What is it that we need to do?
So clearly, you know, being ableto get large quantities of zinc
for the roof repairs, and and weknow we're going to have, you
know, walls and construction.
So how does that all look got todeal with that?
(18:08):
But you know, one of the thingsthat Foo Fo was being very
intentional about in the lastyou know five or six years is
about this building lives forsort of sustainable um, you
know, development.
And so that very much looks atat the types of jobs that people
can get, that they're skilledand trained for, and that uh,
you know, that we're trulyhelping them get into uh the
(18:31):
commercial networks, so uhmarketplaces.
So if you're a a poor, uh youknow, a poor farmer, for
example, you're probably gonnagrow as many as much crops as
you can to eat.
It's subsistence.
We want you to thrive.
So let's get you connected tomarkets.
Um if you're a fisherman, samething.
You don't just fill up the boatwith enough fish to eat for the
next 24 hours.
(18:51):
You actually, if we can really ffigure out how best to help you
um, you know, fillet and packageand freeze and distribute, well,
that's a whole different thing.
And that's what Foof was reallyum intentional about.
I mean it's it's really hardwork, but uh um no one said that
to me this was gonna be easy.
SPEAKER_01 (19:11):
Well, as we get ready to wrap up, um this the
podcast is called Beyond thePlate, not on the plate.
So we're gonna go a little bitbeyond for a second.
I've been getting text messagesa pastor that's a very close to
me in Montego Bay, my cousinDavid, his sister Lorraine, and
their family in Ocheríos.
(19:32):
Everybody's okay, thank God.
How's your family?
SPEAKER_02 (19:36):
Good.
Well, I have a uh my wife'sbrother and sister live down
there, and nephews and nieces,and everyone seems to be okay,
thank God.
Because they live in Kingston,and Kingston was largely spared,
so it might have been adifferent story.
Um but uh you know I just goback to lots of our staff
members haven't heard from theirfamilies yet.
So they don't know the answer tothat question.
Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_01 (19:53):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (19:54):
Um so we truly pray for them uh and uh and for the
entire country of Jamaica,because this is gonna be a this
is gonna be a difficult uphill,you know, climb.
Uh and uh I think everyoneshould just know that Food for
the Poor has been there for 40years.
We intend to be there, let'shope, for at least another 40
years and and do something very,very meaningful in a very
(20:14):
organized and you know, reallyexhibiting the sort of good
Christian stewardship that youknow everyone would be sort of
satisfied to see us do, right?
This is about doing the rightthings right.
SPEAKER_01 (20:26):
Well, doing the right things right starts with
you helping us right now.
Go to foodforthepoor.org slashmelissa twenty-five.
That's foodfor the poor.orgslash Melissa twenty-five.
When we were here last yeartalking with Sadilla Marley
during Hurricane Barrel, and Isaid, your father's song, Smile
(20:47):
Jamaica, is what resonates in myheart.
I believe that everything thatwe're doing brings us back to
that point that we will seeJamaica smile again.
SPEAKER_02 (20:56):
Well, one thing I know, Jamaica is a resilient
country.
The people are resilient, and uhlet's just keep in mind we all
love Jamaicans, and uh so uhthey they will find a way to
thrive, but they're gonna need alot of help uh in that process
of of getting back on their feetin a in a in a way that uh you
know they can feel like there'sa bit more normalcy, but it's
(21:18):
gonna be tough for the next fewmonths.
SPEAKER_01 (21:19):
We ask you to please go to foodforthepoor.org slash
Melissa25.
That's foodfor the poor dot or gslash melissa twenty-five.
God bless you.
Thank you, Ed.
Thank you, guys.
Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_00 (21:36):
We hope you've felt the connection.
One plate, one story, one act oflove can change everything.
Discover more stories and joinour community at
foodforthepoor.org slashpodcasts and follow us too at
beyond the plate.podcast.
Together we can make adifference.
This is Beyond the Plate.
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