Staff at a farm in Norfolk County are doing what they can to help the people of Jamaica after a devastating hurricane hit the island. At least 28 people died, homes were destroyed and public infrastructure was uprooted as Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Oct 28. Some of the people who work in Simcoe, Ont. could only watch from afar as their houses back home fell victim to the storm’s destruction. “When I saw my house, I fell down in tears,” Maria Peart, a temporary foreign worker at Schuyler Farms said. Many people who work on farms in southern Ontario hail from Jamaica. They are now coming together to try to help friends and family back home. Pete Van Berlo, the owner of Berlo’s Best Farm, is packing a 40 ft. container full of donations. “We’re the largest sweet potato grower in Canada,” Van Berlo said. “We have a lot of help - a lot of them come from Jamaica.” Van Berlo said the response so far has been incredible. “Everybody talks about, ‘We should do this, we should do that,’ which is a great idea. Yet nobody seems to know how to go about it. So, I figured I’ll do the container. If they’re serious, they’ll bring their stuff. So far, it’s been rolling in.” The container is being filled with diapers, hygiene products, small tools and Caribbean staple foods. However, used clothing is not being accepted. “Every single space in these containers is valuable.” Leanne Arnal Bennett, manager of community development for Catholic Community Services of York Region (CCSYR), said. “We want to make sure that it’s being filled with things that will be used and needed there,” Once the container is full, it will be shipped to Jamaica. But the support will not stop there. Farms will continue collecting supplies to send overseas by other means. Farmers throughout Ontario are working together to help the people who have been helping them for years. “Simcoe, Niagara area, Meaford, Leamington, Chatham – we are all over,” Orville McIntosh, Jamaican Liaison Service for Simcoe Region, said. “The population here is about 9,000.” Maria Peart, who has been working in Canada for the last five years, said she felt traumatized as she watched the hurricane’s impact. “Many of our families lost everything,” she said. “We lost our roads. We lost everything. It’s so hard for us.” Waiting to find out what had happened to her family was the hardest part. “The storm reached St. James, reached us by Wednesday morning,” Peart said. “I didn’t hear from my family from Tuesday until Saturday night. That was the first time I heard from my family.” The heartache is widespread, with many unsure what their next steps will be. “I’ve had guys say, ‘Hey, my house is okay. I can stay.’” Van Berlo explained. “I’ve had guys say, ‘I’ve got nothing left. I need to go home.’ And then I’ve got guys that said, ‘I haven’t got nothing left. I need to work as long as possible.’ So, we accommodate them.” The support means everything to people like Peart. “I feel so grateful, and I appreciate everyone in Canada for reaching out to help us back home in Jamaica because it’s not easy, we have to work so hard,” she said. “We leave our family back home. Some of us leave for one year, a whole year, some for eight months. I know we’re all traumatized. Some of us still haven’t heard from our family.” Donations for the container will be collected until Friday at 1 p.m. and the container is expected to reach Jamaica in two to three weeks.
