ST CATHERINE, Jamaica — Medical relief items in the amount of $40 million will be donated to hospitals and health centres across the island, thanks to a partnership between the Portmore Islamic Centre and Helping Hands, a United States (US) based charity.

The donations, secured under the centre’s hurricane relief project, include ultrasound machines, baby warmers, scrubs, electric beds, crash carts, CPAP machines and more.

Project Coordinator Kareema Muncey explained that there had been other donations from Helping Hands prior to this latest effort.

“We have been doing this from the inception, [with] grocery boxes. We have done over 700 boxes,” she shared.

Muncey said that through the grocery project, the volunteers met residents across western Jamaica and this led to them making contact with the clinics and hospitals in affected areas.

Shaheed Muhammad described the process of securing the donation.

“We partnered with Helping Hands, which is a global charity organisation. So they have relief outreach programmes across the world. We reached out to them when Hurricane Melissa came to the island and we found that we needed to do something to assist those who were affected. We reached out to them, they responded positively,” he explained

Muhammad said the container arrived around 7:00 pm Friday and the centre had mobilised immediately to get the donations to the areas that needed them most.

“Some of these things have already been collected by some of the representatives from the clinics. We will be pushing out the rest and making personal drop-offs tomorrow,” he said.

The previous grocery donation was worth over $25 million, Muhammad said.

He emphasised that the donation was for everyone, muslims and non-muslims alike.

“This aid is not just for the muslims. It is for the non-muslims for the most part … and it is a part of our belief that if it is that we help others, then God will help us, and if we alleviate a burden from our brothers and sisters, then our burdens would be alleviated. So it’s a part and parcel of our belief. We see this as a duty to give back,” he said.

Donations will be going to the Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth, St Ann’s Bay Hospital in St Ann, as well as clinics around the country.

(Video: Dashan Hendricks)