MOURNING the loss of her father and close friend but determined to honour their legacy by giving back, Tameka and her husband Donovan Case joined forces with her cousin Crystal Jones to form the Golden Heartz Foundation, and have been moved to help Jamaicans hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa.

Having migrated to the United States in the 1980s, Donovan said he and his wife came back to the island in December for her father’s funeral, following his passing in October. He shared that at the time of their visit, clean-up and rebuilding exercises had commenced and activities in Kingston were seemingly normal.

However, their perception quickly changed when they saw a television news feature on Little Star Achiever Basic School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, which was damaged in the Category 5 storm, forcing students and teachers to operate in substandard conditions.

The couple was moved by the story and reached out to the school’s principal to see how best they could assist.

Together with Jones, who is vice-president of the the Golden Heartz Foundation, they founded the charity in January 2026 and last Tuesday delivered 79 care packages with school supplies and made a donation to the school.

“This foundation is something that’s been in my heart for as long as I’ve known myself. I’ve always been someone to help others. I’ve been helping other individuals with their foundations, which has been great, but we decided to put this in place of ourselves,” Tameka told the Jamaica Observer.

She shared that while grieving the loss of her father she struggled to function but memories of his generosity — along with that of her friend Audley Clark who died prior and had lived in Westmoreland — inspired her to act, giving of herself in the same spirit that they had shown in times of crisis.

“My dad was very big in charity work, extremely big for his church. He was a Seventh-day Adventist. It’s something that Audley always wanted to do…and he was never able to do that, so that is what now led the driving force to focus on Savanna-la-Mar, particularly, because that’s where Audley is from,” said Tameka, who is the president of the foundation.

“I thought, ‘This is something that my dad would want and he has done, so it’s something that we could do.’ Then my cousin, Crystal…she decided to say, ‘Let’s put this in force,’ and we started to gather the information. We just executed a plan and then we chose Miss Foster, who is the principal of that school, Little Star Achievers, to assist,” she recounted.

Donovan shared that, at first, they were using their own funds, but eventually other family members and friends chipped in to make the mission possible.

The couple shared that when they visited the school, they were informed that assessments were conducted in the community with promises of help to come, but it broke their hearts to see the land of their birth in the state it was in, with many residents merely holding on for survival.

They called for more attention and help to be focused on remote and harder-to-reach areas, stating that while it has been five months since the passage of the hurricane, many are still awaiting assistance.

“We thought, ‘We can’t really break any ice that much but maybe we can chip off a little piece. And let’s just do something, because it’s better late than never.’ Sometimes what people don’t realise is that we thanked God everyone came together around that time [immediately after the storm], but then you have to think about after the fact, that people are still out there needing help.

“I would not discredit anyone but at least we were able to still bring hope, after the fact, for them to understand that there are people who still care and there are people who are still passionate to help,” Donovan told the Sunday Observer.

Intent on carrying on the mission they started, Tameka said she and her husband will be back in Jamaica in a few months to host a back-to-school treat. She shared that they are also in the process of planning their return to Jamaica.

She urged other Jamaicans living overseas to answer the call to help their fellow countrymen and women, noting that it’s not the amount they can give but the impact any amount they have can make.

“You’d be amazed that the smallest thing that you give can help someone, and how they appreciate it. We were so appreciated [last] Tuesday. They sang a ‘Thank you’ song, they showed their appreciation, and we felt real good that we helped. It’s not the amount that you give, as long as you give something,” she encouraged.

“You can only give what you have, and that’s basically it. Don’t [hesitate to] give because you think you don’t have enough, just give what you have. Just step out in faith, do it from the heart. I know there’s a stigma and some persons are afraid to travel back here to give, but just make proper plans and preparation and have things in place because there is a great need. There are people crying out for help,” said Tameka.

Members of the Golden Heartz Foundation team inspect a roofless classroom at Little Star Achievers Basic School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland.

Tameka Case (left), president of Golden Heartz Foundation, and her husband Donovan