Melissathon, a “musical marathon” to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Melissa, takes place on December 21. The virtual event will be hosted by Dr Garfield McCook, a Jamaican entrepreneur based in Atlanta, Georgia.

McCook is also founder and organiser of the Jamaica International Independence Foreign Song Competition (JIIFSC). He disclosed that many of the artistes who competed in that event will perform on Melissathon which airs on Facebook and YouTube from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Melissathon will be broadcast from APAP Media Group Studios in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

“The idea came to fruition as I thought about how JIIFSC could contribute to the cause of the hurricane relief. The concept is to have 47 artistes from the JIIFSC competition air their song entries (2021 to 2025) in a marathon format while soliciting donations for Melissa relief victims, thus the coined word, Melissathon,” McCook explained.

Donations can be made to jiifsc.com. Proceeds from Melissathon will be presented to the relevant authorities in Jamaica.

McCook will co-host the event with Tony Anthony, Paul Abrahams, Mr Mighty and Richard “Missa B” Blackford. He reached out to the artistes in November and they readily agreed to participate.

The five winners of the JIIFSC — Lavie Lujah, Barrington (GoddySon) Burke-Green, Leon “Letonick” Denton, Lionel Denton, Ernel Earlington/Doxology and Lee “Preist” Johnson — will perform.

Like many concerned Jamaicans abroad, McCook has visited several of the areas devastated by Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 system that made landfall in Jamaica on October 28. He has been to Falmouth, Trelawny and Black River in St Elizabeth which was destroyed by the hurricane.

– Howard Campbell