IN the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, Restaurants of Jamaica (ROJ) — parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut — has continued its national hurricane relief meal support programme with more than 27,000 free meals distributed since the passage of the hurricane.

These meals have supported families in affected communities, volunteers on the ground, and essential personnel working through recovery.

Mobilising meal-support teams throughout its restaurant network, ROJ has been operating in heavily impacted areas such as Black River, St Elizabeth and Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland among others, where meals have been prepared and delivered into communities as part of the company’s ongoing relief response.

At the centre of this effort are the KFC and Pizza Hut team members who reopened restaurants in the immediate wake of the storm, keeping kitchens operational and preparing thousands of meals under challenging circumstances, for heavily impacted communities.

Many of these team members were personally affected by the storm yet returned to work to ensure that families in impacted areas were not left without food.

Their dedication has allowed ROJ to continue serving communities at a time when support is needed most. In addition, ROJ’s dedicated support teams from its maintenance, distribution, supply chain, and other departments have been instrumental in the company being able to support the nation’s relief efforts.

With thousands of meals distributed in the first weekend alone through this coordinated effort, many meal deliveries are now being driven by teams stationed in the hardest-hit, Melissa-affected regions, who continue working tediously while facing their own recovery.

These men and women have refused to let hunger add to the hardships families are experiencing and have become the unsung heroes of ROJ’s post-hurricane relief efforts.

In addition, ROJ has partnered with support groups on the ground in affected areas, such as the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, Food for the Poor, Samaritan’s Purse, and World Central Kitchen, to ensure that meals have reached hard-hit communities, volunteers, and essential workers.

ROJ has also partnered with its suppliers including Jamaica Broilers, Pepsi Jamaica, Honey Bun, Grace Foods, Lasco Manufacturers, and Facey Commodity, which have rallied to helped bolster the company’s relief efforts for their team members and the wider affected communities.

According to ROJ’s Managing Director Mark Myers, seeing the situation first-hand has fuelled the team’s determination.

“When you visit these communities, you understand how much a single hot meal means. You see families trying to rebuild, volunteers running on very little rest and people doing their best to stay hopeful. That is why our teams have stepped forward in the way they have, and we could not be prouder of them,” Myers said.

“We take the safety, security and well-being of our teams very seriously and this remains one our top priorities especially during such a challenging time. Many of our team members are having to deal with severe personal setbacks after the hurricane and yet they still have come out to support Jamaica.

“Their compassion has carried this effort. We are incredibly proud of them and their efforts. Internally we have already activated our support programmes to provide aid in cash and kind, for our affected team members. Every meal produced, represents teamwork, sacrifice and care, and we will continue to stand with our teams, and our nation throughout the recovery,” added Myers.

He said ROJ will continue coordinating its distribution to ensure meals reach the communities that need them most with meal support to remain active in the coming days as recovery continues across several parishes.

Steady packing and double-checks by the KFC team to keep everything organised for the trip.