SEVEN years ago when fire destroyed the home of a family of eight in Tryall Heights, St Catherine, residents of the small community just outside Spanish Town did not wait for their political representatives or any outside group to provide assistance.

Instead, they organised several fund-raisers which brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars and built a brand new home for the family.

That was to be the start of a sustained effort which has since seen the group raising funds to build several other houses for the needy, to feed and care for the elderly, to provide scholarship and to ensure the community’s roads are rid of potholes.

Dubbed the Concerned Citizens of Tryall Heights, the 32-member association is always seeking a community project to take on, or an individual whose life it can make brighter.

For this Yuletide season, the group went all out to ensure that the elderly in the community will at least enjoy a good Christmas and New Year’s dinner. To that end, they handed out grocery baskets last weekend, with everything to prepare a complete meal for both days, as well as toiletries.

Funds for this latest venture were raised from a gospel concert which was the deliberate choice of entertainment as the association’s members wanted a wholesome event in which the entire community could participate.

Chairman of the association Imogene Geohagen said the group has always treated persons to a catered Christmas meal, but that it decided to do it differently this year so as to reach even more of the community’s residents.

“We decided to give them a food package so they can cook it in their own home and be able to feed others who are living with them,” Geohagen, who is also a justice of the peace, told the Jamaica Observer.

Vice Chair Winston Whyte added that the association wants to ensure that the elderly will have enough to eat this Christmas as the festive season is a “time for caring and sharing”, not only for the day, but beyond.

Eighty-year-old Pearline King, in lauding the association for what it continues to do for the community, said the residents are appreciative of all their efforts.

“The association help me a lot and it is a very important thing that they are doing for the community,” King said, adding that she was once an active member, before she became ill.

In tracing the history of the association, Geohagen said the members’ first project was to host what turned out to be an extremely successful fund-raiser.

“I remember when I come down here and ah see the house burnt out I ask the owner if it was OK for me to call a meeting of the residents and he said “go ahead”, and we hold the meeting right here in the road and decide to have a barbecue fund-raiser to help the family get back some sort of a shelter,” she said.

They were pleasantly surprised to discover that they had raised enough money to not only rebuild the house, but also to furnish it.

“We were so delighted when we were able to have a house warming for the family,” she told the Observer.

Encouraged by the success of this initiative, Geohagen said the members, who had, by this time, formed an association, opted to put on a second barbecue to raise funds to help offset some of the needs in the community. The event brought in enough to outfit three high school and two early childhood students to go back to school.

From subsequent fund-raisers, the association was able to build another house for a senior citizen, re-roof the house of another resident and purchase a stove and cylinder for a man who was cooking outside his house on a wood fire, among other good deeds.

Ever on the alert for the next project, the association decided earlier this year that it wanted the road in the community to be pothole-free and immediately set about raising the money to purchase the necessary material to do the work themselves.

“When we were doing the road some people were saying that is not our responsibility, but we can’t sit here and wait on others to decide if the road is fixed or not,” Geohagen said.

Association member Lloyd Smith said the community has saved the Government millions by undertaking some tasks, such as patching out the potholes and caring for the indigent.

“The road was in so much shambles. We couldn’t sit and wait for it to be fixed so we had to raise the money to do it ourselves,” he said.

Whyte, whose community involvement dates back to when the community had a vibrant neighbourhood watch years ago, said the association has raised and spent more than $200,000 in some of the various projects which were tackled this year. Like Smith, he has taken a personal interest in the well-being of the community as he will not wait for others to come from outside to offer assistance.

“No man cyaan run yu yard better dan you, so if you haffi wait for man to come from elsewhere then the yard is not fi yu,” said the 49-year-old who grew up in Tryall Heights.

For a small group, the association has done a lot, said Assistant Secretary Antoinette Edwards.

“We not only have weekly meetings, but birthday clubs to recognise individuals and show appreciation for everyone,” she said.

Edwards said, too, that the association is working towards getting more young people involved in the various activities.

“We will be having a programme to uplift the youth and we liaison with the Community Citizens’ Justice Programme to come in and talk with them,” she said.

As a result of its work, the Tryall Heights community has come to form a close bond that, Geohagen hopes, they can maintain until all the immediate needs of the community are met.