ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A St. Augustine man is looking to get help for his beloved hometown in Jamaica after it suffered damage from Hurricane Melissa.
“In Jamaica, we have a saying, ‘wi likkle but wi tallawah.’Saying we may be one of the smaller islands, but we leave a very big footprint,” said Damion Thompson, a retired U.S. Navy veteran.
It was just last week when parts of Jamaica took a catastrophic hit from Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm.
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Damion Thompson, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, was born in Jamaica. He now lives in St.Augustine. He was getting live videos and pictures from family and friends back in Jamaica when the storm swept through, and eventually his communications with loved ones cut off.
“Immediately, I felt, I’m not gonna lie, I cried a little bit. I felt devastated. I felt helpless, and you know, I started thinking, how could I help?” said Thompson.
Serving in the Navy, he says, he was taught to always give back. And after seeing the devastation from his beloved hometown of St. Elizabeth, he knew he had to do something for those people who survived the storm.
“The storm is one thing, but after the storm, life after the storm is kind of where I put my mind,” he said.
Seeing washed-up homes, floods and fallen trees, he started a GoFundMe page with the goal to raise 25 thousand dollars. He’s also getting donations to send to remote locations in Jamaica that he says rarely receive aid. He has generators and food ready to send back as well.
“My goal for me is to reach those individuals in those cracks and crevices that need to help,” he said.
He’s hoping you can help.
“We as a people, we’re gonna rise up again and help each other out and do what we can, even for those who are broad like myself,” he said.
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