Credit Card Donations for Hurricane Melissa Relief Surpass US$1M and J$53M
November 12, 2023
Kingston, Jamaica – Donations made via credit card to teh Government of Jamaica’s official disaster relief and recovery portal, supportjamaica.gov.jm, have reached a notable milestone, totaling US$1.08 million and J$53.2 million as of 8:07 a.m. on Tuesday, November 11th.
The figures were announced by Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, during a press briefing held at Jamaica House. The Minister indicated that a more thorough total, including direct bank deposits, will be available at a follow-up briefing scheduled for Thursday.
“At our next briefing on Thursday,I’ll be able to give you the total that has come in via direct deposit to the accounts,” Dr. Morris Dixon stated.
Beyond individual contributions, Jamaica is receiving significant international support. Minister Morris Dixon revealed that 40 bilateral partners have pledged assistance in the wake of Category Five Hurricane Melissa. Of these, 31 have already remitted their contributions, with the remaining partners working to expedite their support.
“We are so grateful to every single country, every bilateral partner. The Ministry of foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has been doing a tremendous job coordinating all of that.Thirty-one of them have already sent through their contributions. The others were working to expedite those contributions,” she added.
The supportjamaica.gov.jm platform has also seen a strong response from citizens eager to assist in recovery efforts. To date, 170 donors have registered, alongside 3,921 volunteers.
The Ministries are preparing to utilize these volunteers extensively, especially during upcoming “Clean up Jamaica” exercises.The Ministry of Education will also integrate volunteers into its own recovery initiatives. Senator Morris Dixon highlighted the timing of this volunteer surge, noting it coincides with Youth Month.
“The Ministries will be using them,especially as we get to the ‘Clean Up Jamaica’ exercises. We’ll be using a lot of volunteers there and we will also use them in our own work in the Ministry of Education. I should note, it is indeed Youth Month, and one of the things we want to do for Youth Month is to empower young people to give back and to serve our country during this month,” Senator Morris Dixon explained.
This article is based on information released by the Jamaica Information Service.
