Community Hero: Ionie Ricketts carrying on family legacy of helping those in need
Giving is second nature for Ionie Ricketts, who has been sharing her bounty with the residents of Barnstaple district, in Johnson Town, Trelawny.
Ricketts has called Barnstaple her home since the age of six, when her parents were relocated there from St Ann by the Kaiser Bauxite Company. Even though they had very little, Ricketts’ mother and father were always helping others, and that influenced her to give as well.
“It is important to me because I grew up in a family that was really loving; I saw my mother sharing, I saw my dad sharing even out of the nothing they had. I remember one Sunday we came from church and our dinner was given to another family and we didn’t see where our dinner was coming from after mom gave that dinner to someone else,” Ricketts said, smiling at the memory.
“Because the mother came and there was nothing for the children and so my mother gave the food. And from seeing my mother doing things like these I always said that when I grow up I would really like to emulate my mother and help others like she did,” Ricketts continued.
In carrying on the tradition, Ricketts joined community clubs and became an active member at her church which often visits those in need. And she opened a variety store from which people in the community have benefitted greatly.
“I am a part of the neighbourhood watch for my community and the community youth club, and I am also part of the CDC (Community Development Commission). Also as an active church member we go to the shut-ins and help to do things like clean their houses. As for the children in the community, if they need anything I’m there to help them, I do whatever I can to be of help,” Ricketts explained.
Though, as a child, Ricketts was the person bringing food to different houses when her mother cooked, and she would try her best to share with others as the years went by, it was not until she became an adult and had children of her own that she began to impact an entire community.
“I started later, after having my children, I took on my brother’s and sister’s children and any children that (my children) brought home from school – I would call their parents and let them know that they are at my house and that they were going to stay for a bit of time,” Ricketts explained.
“I have that genuine thing to see people happy. I myself was raised in a happy family, we may not have had much but we were very happy and I always liked to see that in other people. So in that way I always try to involve myself in anything that somebody is going to benefit from,” she added.
Giving back to her community and being a helping hand to those in need are raised a notch on special days like Christmas for 58-year-old Ricketts.
“Anytime somebody comes by, doesn’t matter how often, almost every day I try to help. On special days like Christmas I would have a family dinner with my family and I would take people in as well and I would make certain that everybody receives a token for the holidays whether they were invited or not. I would sometimes have to even split a gift in two to ensure that nobody leaves empty handed,” she said.
Ricketts, who is affectionately called “Auntie Calm”, has touched the lives of many members of her community outreach activities, community projects and events and just through her everyday kindness. But she is not done yet. She told OBSERVER ONLINE that she believes that giving to others is never too much, especially when God continues to provide for her.
“It has never become too much because the Lord always provides. Even when it seems like there is nothing, you have to give until it hurts; sometimes you don’t have it for yourself but you give. If somebody comes to you, there is a reason the Lord sent that person to you so he must replenish you and if you give from the nothing you have, he must replenish you,” Ricketts urged.
When asked if she considers herself to be a community hero, Ricketts commented that if you “classify a hero to be someone doing good, then yes, but I am just doing my part to aid others in need.”
Ricketts continues to help the people in Barnstaple, who, though she may not see it for herself, consider her a community hero.