MURRAY MOUNT, St Ann — The same day an old wagon van used by caregivers at Widow’s Mite home became totally unusable, a charitable organisation gave them a new bus.

Even better than the old one, it had been modified to meet the needs of the abandoned children with disabilities which it will take to and from their medical appointments.

“It was divine intervention because the bus is adaptable, it can carry wheelchairs and that’s a big deal because we’ve always wanted that kind of assistance,” executive director for Mustard Seed Communities (MSC) Jamaica Darcy Tulloch Williams told the Jamaica Observer. Widow’s Mite is operated by MSC.

“It really is a blessing because the vehicle we were using before just ‘bruk’ down on the very day we got the bus. The transmission went and so we are in the process of getting the fitness and insuring the vehicle that was donated to us.”

The new bus was donated last Tuesday by MOTRA, a non-profit founded by Jamaican Maureen Russell who lives in California.

“It was all about sharing love through sharing. She did not ask us to do anything. She called and said this was her intent… and when she got the vehicle she called. I was in total shock,” said Tulloch Williams who praised Russell for doing a good deed without the need to milk it for publicity.

MOTRA consists of the first initials of Russell and her children’s first names: Maureen, Odayne, Tekel, Rakinne, and Amani.

“I went to bed one night and asked God to show me a place that needed assistance,” Russell told the Observer when contacted. “I went online and Googled MSC and the information on Widow’s Mite showed that it is in an extremely rural community, where it is hard to help because of the location.”

She explained that she felt the need to give back to her country because as a child she had experienced both hardship and the kindness of community members who helped her overcome those challenges.

Other initiatives completed by MOTRA include food drives at the St Ann Infirmary and delivering prepared meals and clothing to the homeless in St Thomas. They have also provided students with tablets used for online schooling.

It has not always been easy to lend a helping hand. Russell’s son and MOTRA co-founder Rakinne Foote spoke of the challenges faced in importing tablets via the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

“We were asked questions that were not necessary, and to present receipts. And when we could only present seven of the 13 receipts, we were only able to get seven tablets,” he said. “It was just a lack of sensitivity and unprofessionalism and tactics that are working against the system that we are trying to help.”

Despite the challenges, they are still happy they were able to help those in need.