KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Marlie Mount Primary and Infant School in St Catherine has reached out to two primary schools in St Elizabeth with relief supplies, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

Principal of Marlie Mount, Calvin Harris, told JIS News that the items included  educational supplies such as school bags and clothing, as they wanted to provide more than the care packages to the institutions, Pedro Plains Primary and Barbary Hall Primary School.

“We have done 147 gifts for the Pedro Plains Primary School, and another 87 for the Barbary Hall Primary, and then we gave a lot of shoes. We had two barrels of shoes,  separate and apart from other bags that we had with clothes and shoes,” he said.

Harris said they also distributed the “normal stuff with the care packages, where we had the toiletries, we had food items, the rice, the sugar, the tinned products and water that were distributed to students, teachers, and community members”.

The principal noted that the items were sponsored by teachers, parents and students at his school.

“I remembered one parent commenting that Christmas is here early for her child, and another one said she didn’t have to buy any gifts for her children this year,” Harris said.

Principal of Barbary Hall Primary, Mariann Chambers-Smith, told JIS News that  teachers and parents in her school community are “very grateful” for the donation made to them, and “we must say special thanks to Harris for reaching out to us”.

“He could have chosen other institutions, so we are very grateful that he considered Barbary Hall Primary and Infant School as one of the schools to assist. It is simply saying that Marlie Mount Primary is selfless, that they go beyond to share love and to give help, and that distance is not a barrier to show that you care in times of disaster and in times of need,” Chambers-Smith said.

For his part, Principal of Pedro Plains Primary, Wilton Smith, said it was a wonderful experience, because a lot of the parents and community members had a “rough time after the devastation of Hurricane Melissa, and we are indeed extremely grateful for this gesture by Principal Harris and his team”.

“The atmosphere was overwhelming; it was warm and nice. Parents, teachers, community members, and students were grateful for the packages and the gifts that were received,” Smith said.

—    JIS