KINGSTON, Jamaica — JPS Foundation, through its Volunteers On Location To Serve (VOLTS), joined recovery efforts in Catherine Hall, St James, last Thursday, lending support to the Holiness Christian Church and delivering relief aid to residents.

The church, like homes and businesses in the area, experienced severe flooding when high levels of water and mud washed into the property, damaging furniture, musical instruments and other valuables.

Senior Vice President for Customer Experience and Commercial, Pia Baker, shared that the energy company has been involved in several relief efforts, bringing aid to some of the hardest-hit communities in western Jamaica, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

“The recovery currently taking place has a technical side and a humanitarian side for us at JPS. While our teams give it their all in repairing and rebuilding sections of the grid, our volunteers have been busy helping residents to clear debris from their spaces and delivering care packages,” she said. “Our brothers and sisters have suffered tremendous loss and we are doing all that we can to play our part on the road to recovery.”

(from left) Pia Baker, Senior Vice President for Customer Experience and Commercial, JPS interns Sherwin Williams and Romano Williams and Aundhrae Richardson, JPS Foundation Officer were busy washing out excess dirt from the Holiness Christian Church in Catherine Hall on November 20. Team JPS was on location to help with cleaning the sanctuary after flood waters left a trail of mud and debris during the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa.

Head of the JPS Foundation, Sophia Lewis noted that restoring key community spaces is essential in helping residents rebuild. “Spaces like churches play an important role in providing comfort, connection and refuge during difficult times. Getting them back up and running helps the entire community heal,” she said.

The VOLTS helped remove benches, chairs and musical instruments from the church, before using push brooms and shovels to clear thick layers of mud. The team also power washed the interior, including tiles, walls and windows, and later removed the build-up of debris from the churchyard. Trucks then transported the waste out of the community.

Following the clean-up, the Foundation distributed more than 200 care packages to residents. These included non-perishable food items, cleaning and sanitation supplies, cases of water and buckets of ice to help families as they recover in the aftermath of the disaster.

JPS intern Sherwin Williams washes mud from the Holiness Christian Church in Catherine Hall on November 20, 2025.

Pastor Trevor Headley of the Catherine Hall-based church expressed deep gratitude for the initiative, noting that the assistance allows the church to be in a better position to serve the community.

“The church plays a vital role in times of crisis. I must commend the JPS Foundation and their volunteers for how they showed up for us today. It is deeply appreciated,” Headley said.

Representatives of the VOLTS later joined the Digicel Foundation in the neighbouring West Green community, helping to deliver aid to the Special Education Unit at the Catherine Hall Primary School.

Since the passage of Hurricane Melissa, the JPS Foundation has supplied almost 4000 care packages across Westmoreland, St Elizabeth and St Ann in collaboration with partners such as Food For The Poor Jamaica, VM Foundation, Flow Foundation and the Digicel Foundation.