Local donation drive for Jamaica exceeds expectations

Organizers of a local donation drive for Jamaican victims of Hurricane Melissa say they don't have enough barrels to ship all their donated items.

A donation drive in Edmonton that set out to help those affected by the hurricane in Jamaica now has more donations than containers to ship items in.

When Hurricane Melissa hit the island nation last month, Edmonton’s Jamaican community began rallying.

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A donation drive organized by local photographer Mark Wallace and his brother has exceeded expectations. His goal is to send donations and supplies in barrels from Edmonton to Jamaica.

Initially, they had prepared 15 barrels for the drive. In a day and a half, they were completely full. Now, they have 33 barrels, filled and ready to be sent to Jamaica.

“It warms my heart to see the amount of support we’ve been getting,” Wallace said.

The plan from there is to get a shipping container with the barrels to Jamaica. They have three organizations waiting and ready to receive the supplies.

People are still able to donate by heading to Wallace’s Instagram. There’s still need, he said, for tarps, hammers, nails and other supplies that will help people rebuild.

“Because a lot of people have lost their homes. They’ve lost everything,” he said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall