IN response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, which significantly impacted several of Jamaica’s western parishes last October, the VM Group and VM Foundation mobilised more than $56 million in relief and resilience-building support, reaffirming its commitment to standing with communities in times of national crisis.

The group’s response combined immediate humanitarian assistance with targeted recovery initiatives, education support, housing intervention, and care for team members.

Through the VM Foundation, a total of $9.35 million was directed towards community-based relief and recovery efforts in affected areas.

Of this, $5.2 million supported recovery-phase initiatives, including the replenishment of Primary Exit Profile (PEP) workbooks, learning materials, and stationery for 21 schools across impacted western parishes, helping to stabilise the learning environment for students following the hurricane.

The foundation also provided $2.5 million in building materials to affected families in selected communities, supporting home repairs and early-stage rebuilding.

In St James, $1.2 million was allocated to the VM ImPact grantee, the Family and Parenting Centre.

This support enabled a parenting empowerment and children’s Christmas treat, offering practical assistance and psychosocial support to families during the recovery period.

Education continuity was further strengthened through a contribution towards emergency roofing supplies for selected primary schools.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the VM Foundation also expended an additional $4 million on care packages and emergency relief, providing essential supplies to households most affected by the storm.

“Hurricane Melissa underscored the importance of responding with empathy,” said Samantha Charles, CEO of VM Foundation.

“Our interventions were designed to address urgent needs, but also to support families, children, and communities in the western parishes as they work towards recovery and a renewed sense of hope,” added Charles.

Beyond the foundation’s initiatives, the wider VM Group contributed approximately $47 million in total through a combination of national partnerships and internal support to team members.

This included a partnership between the group’s board of directors and Food for the Poor, which resulted in the donation of a two-bedroom house to a family in Myersville, St Elizabeth, ahead of Christmas Day.

The group also contributed $5 million to the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Hurricane Relief Fund, supporting a coordinated private-sector response to national recovery efforts.

Approximately $40 million was also used to prioritise the well-being of team members, through disaster recovery grants, relief donations, moratoria on staff loans, and access to emotional wellness and psychosocial services.