Food For The Poor Inc. (FFTP) recently partnered with Cedella Marley, CEO of the Bob and Rita Marley foundations, to raise funds to help survivors of Hurricane Beryl with repairs or replacement of thousands of zinc roofs damaged and destroyed by the Category 4 storm.

“I have many family members and friends in Jamaica, and I’ve been in constant contact with them,” said Marley, who lives in south Florida. “They tell me there’s great concern for those left hungry and homeless, especially the children.”

Marley visited FFTP’s Coconut Creek headquarters in Florida and worked alongside volunteers to pack hygiene kits with essential everyday items that people need in a crisis.

“People need help and that’s why we’re working with Food For The Poor on delivering much-needed supplies,” Marley said. “This is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions.”

With so many homes in need of new roofs or major roof repairs, the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation, working in concert with FFTP, is raising funds to provide zinc roofing and hurricane straps. Go to foodforthepoor.org/1love1roof to learn more.

“We are deeply honoured to partner with Cedella Marley and the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation,” FFTP president/CEO Ed Raine said.

“The materials for new roofs and these repairs are critical for the families affected,” he added. “They will provide safety, security, and hope to those who have faced unimaginable hardship. As we brace for what is expected to be an active hurricane season, it is more important than ever that these roofs and repairs are completed swiftly.”

FFTP launched a massive response to Beryl even before the storm made landfall, with hundreds of disaster preparedness kits staged in Jamaica and the Windward Islands.

Prior to the storm in Jamaica, disaster preparedness kits for 500 families were ready to be deployed. The day after the storm, the charity delivered 400 packages (and an additional 140 by that weekend) of food, hygiene kits, tarps, water boots and blankets to affected families in the six hardest-hit parishes of St. Mary, St. Thomas, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, and St. Elizabeth.

FFTP also has 53 containers of food, hygiene items, and medical supplies either at the port or en route to all affected areas, including 27 containers in transit to Jamaica. 

More than 1,000 people evacuated their homes in Jamaica and are now in shelters. FFTP-Jamaica is supporting these shelters through partnerships, providing food, hygiene items, mattresses, bed linens, and pillows.

Raine said FFTP is uniquely positioned to provide aid through its network of more than 30 distribution centers around Jamaica, plus a network of partners in the Windward Islands.

“Our team, in collaboration with local partners, is ensuring that essential aid reaches those who need it most,” Raine said. “We are committed to standing by these communities as they begin the process of recovery and rebuilding.”

Additional help from trusted FFTP partners includes:

• A total of 720 family emergency kits and 720 emergency food kits from Toronto-based GlobalMedic.

• Medical supplies and hygiene kits from Lenexa, Kan.-based Heart to Heart International.

• Amazon’s Disaster Relief Team, through a partnership with Good360, has donated us$20,000 in gift cards to FFTP to order relief items.