Jamaican-led non-profit organisation, the Kagra Foundation, recently mobilised to support residents of the Tampa Bay area in Florida, United States, who were severely impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton and six reported tornadoes.

Known for its humanitarian efforts in South Florida, Jamaica, and Haiti, the Derry Ann Allen-led foundation organised a special outreach to assist affected communities in North Florida and the Carolinas on the heels of the powerful consecutive disasters, which caused damage and displacement, resulting in many families being without homes, electricity, and other essential supplies.

“By the second call we got from our donors, I knew that the foundation had to do something,” said Jamaican American Allen. “Some are still without electricity, others are still unable to go home due to flooding, severe winds, and also the damage from the tornadoes this time around. It was really bad.

“A member of our board, Richard Young, has a cousin who lives in Tampa, who connected us to a volunteer with the Metropolitan Ministries (Met Ministries),” Allen said.

She later met with Elaine King-Thomas and forged a partnership.

Allen said her team decided to reroute donations for this year’s Christmas drive in Jamaica to those currently in need in Tampa. As a result, the annual Christmas day drive, called ‘Love is a verb’, has been cancelled with efforts to return to Jamaica for 2025.

“There’s a large Caribbean community in the Tampa Bay area, so we wanted to help,” said Allen. “I had to tell people to hold their donations for us because of the limited storage. So we plan to return twice each year and bring some assistance.”

The foundation’s volunteers loaded a truck with donations, including essential items such as baby supplies, food, non-perishables, water, clothing, wheelchairs, and hygiene products, and made a three-hour delivery from Port St Lucie to Tampa.

Thomas-King, who operates as a volunteer, said she is grateful to the non-profit for reaching out.

“It’s a blessing to be able to partner with Derry Ann and the Kagra Foundation. It truly takes a village,” she expressed.

Met Ministries currently provides housing for 100 displaced families who will benefit from the supplies.

“It’s like a community there, so they have their own daycare, elementary school and head start. They provide everything to take care of these families for nine to 12 months, during which they will work on employment, housing and counselling.”

The organisation also has an outreach department that many families facing hardship can get supplies daily, including a supermarket on the campus.

When asked about the Jamaican community in the Tampa Bay area, Thomas-King was happy to share good news.

“From my knowledge, most Jamaicans in the area fared very well. After the hurricane, I reached out, we had some chain texts going on, checking to see who needed help and the response I got was very good. The few that needed help, I was able to connect them with services. Thankfully, the Caribbean community here did not suffer a tremendous loss,” said Thomas-King.

The Kagra Foundation’s dedication to helping others is inspired by the memory of Jamaican Kameisha Grant, Allen’s best friend. She passed away in her sleep at 22 years old, shortly after completing her studies at The University of the West Indies. The foundation has been actively involved in various humanitarian initiatives, including providing aid to terminally ill victims, supporting education initiatives, and giving back to lower-income families.

“Our ultimate goal is to provide immediate relief and support to the affected communities,” said Allen. “We are committed to helping people rebuild their lives and recover from these devastating storms and tornadoes. The only sad part about this is that we unfortunately had to cancel what we had planned in Jamaica, but we want to get to a point where we don’t have to choose who to help but the need was more immediate and severe here.”

“So we want to grow and strengthen in numbers. We hate turning people away but sometimes we don’t have the space to keep the donations, so now we’re working on acquiring a storage building to keep our donations,” she expressed.

By extending their reach to the Tampa Bay area, the Kagra Foundation said it continues to embody its mission of compassion and service.