A number of high schools in Hanover welcomed hurricane relief from the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) on Friday, the first of several planned visits to hurricane-damaged areas.

A team led by JAAA President Garth Gayle, first vice-president Ian Forbes, and other executive members, along with Puma marketing manager for running Juliet Campbell, presented food items and toiletries to student-athletes from Rusea’s High, Merlene Ottey High, and Rhodes Hall High.

The schools were among dozens in western Jamaica damaged during Hurricane Melissa in October.

“This is a wonderful initiative to give back to our athletes,” Anna Kay Lewis, a senior teacher at Rusea’s High, said in a JAAA release.

“The hurricane affected everybody, including our athletes. We welcome this support and look forward to more as they work hard to represent the school at local, regional, and international competitions.

“As a school we have suffered greatly and now operate on one campus instead of the usual two. Our athletes will have to rotate coming into school. This impacts not only education but the level of training they can do under normal circumstances, so we welcome this initiative from the JAAA and Puma.”

Campbell said, “We have to show them that we care. This is a gesture to remind the athletes not to abandon the sport, even with the current challenges.”

Forbes described it as a goodwill trip.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that our stakeholders, including our student-athletes and teachers, are given a chance to train and compete well. We would like to level the playing field as best as possible when they compete against their peers who were not affected by the hurricane. We are also looking at other areas where we can help them compete and realise their full potential,” he said.