General News
Philanthropist steps in to help MoBay fire victims
KERIL WRIGHT, Observer staff reporter editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
MONTEGO Bay, St James - Philanthropist Arlington Myers, a Jamaican who has been living in the United States for the past 20 years, and who is noted for extending assistance to Jamaicans in need, has again stepped forward to offer a helping hand.
This time, he has responded to the plight of the seven persons left homeless when fire destroyed their homes at Water Lane in downtown Montego Bay last Friday. Those affected include Carol Wallace, otherwise called 'Wally', his common-law wife Angella Whyte, their four children and their neighbour Junior Brown, who all lost everything when the fire razed both their dwellings.
Myers, who lives in Georgia, USA, emailed the Observer offering assistance to those affected. When contacted by telephone, he said he was ready to help and requested particulars of all the affected persons, including clothes and shoe sizes and the types of school supplies the children needed.
"I should be able to put together two to three barrels to send to them," said Myers, who hails from St Elizabeth. "I read your article and I am very distraught for them so whatever I can do to help I will."
Myers has been extending assistance for years to Jamaicans at home in need. Most recently he was instrumental in getting St James firefighter Rayon Foster to the US to undergo surgery for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma or cancer of the immune system. Unfortunately, after about two months of treatment in the US, Foster eventually succumbed to his illness two weeks ago.
Prior to that, Myers was also instrumental in getting 12-year-old Vannessa Brooks to the US in 2005, where she was successfully treated for nasopharyngeal cancer. He has responded on numerous occasions to persons' calls for assistance and is presently helping to build a home for an indigent person in Hanover.
Meanwhile, Whyte said she has been receiving an outpouring of compassion and offers of assistance from as far way as Portland and Kingston since her story in the Observer Saturday. "We get a whole lot of calls," she said. "People from up the line as far as Portland and Kingston wanting to help, especially the children."
At the same time, she said Mayor of Montego Bay Charles Sinclair visited the family to assess the damage and offer support and assistance from the St James Parish Council.
When contacted, Sinclair said the council would be extending assistance first to the children so they could be outfitted for school. "We need to get the kids out to school, that is a matter of urgency," said Sinclair. "There are also relief supplies at the council such as bedding and other household items that we can offer to them."
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