Despite living in a country besieged by a vicious recession, Jamaicans have rallied together to make donations of cash and kind to Caribbean neighbour Haiti, a country that was ravaged by a far more destructive force last week — a 7.0 earthquake. The Haitian relief efforts have been going on in earnest following the earthquake that has so shaken the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, that days later rescue efforts are still being thwarted by the sheer magnitude of the devastation.

Companies across Jamaica have rallied around the cause and Sunday Finance sought to highlight some of the efforts.

Azan Supercentre

Azan’s, one of the first local companies to organise relief efforts, is the hub of a wide and impressive network of corporate collaboration. Kamal Azan, who is organizing the relief effort for Azan’s, said he has received assistance and input from organisations such as Tara Couriers, KFC, and Air Jamaica, providing transportation and logistics support; The Salvation Army, Food for the Poor, which handles collection of items; Carimed and T. Geddes Grant, providing medical supplies, Seprod, which is sending food, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), the Ministry of Health and the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, which has volunteered 20 andnine medical doctors respectively to go to Haiti. “I think it’s admirable that in a country where people are trying to get out we have people who are trying to get in,” Azan said.

Azan’s is collecting essential supplies, non-perishable food, clothing, blankets, tarpaulin, mattresses and any other donations that the public can make towards the relief efforts. So far the donations from the public have been impressive. “First and foremost we need to big up the Jamaican people for their contributions. They are unbelievable in their support for this effort,” Azan said. “You might not benefit here on earth but I am a firm believer that if you do a good deed it will follow you, he added.

Scotiabank

Scotiabank Jamaica is donating $5million toward the Red Cross to assist in providing aid to Haiti. The cash donation will be given to the Haitian Red Cross to purchase relief supplies in Haiti and to boost economic activity and pump cash into the already cash strapped system. Bruce Bowen, president and CEO of Scotiabank said that he was devastated by the news of the earthquake and that Jamaica’s response to support Haiti is just “a small indication of our desire as Caribbean neighbours to provide immediate and urgent assistance to ease the pain and suffering that is evident on the island.” The Bank is utilizing its 40 locations islandwide to act as collection centres for non-perishable food, water and clothing and has been inundated with the outpouring of material donations from the Jamaican public.

Heather Goldson, senior vice president of marketing and products said that “We are heartened by the response as people are taking in barrels, large garbage bags and several boxes upon boxes of items, too large to even store in the boxes which we have supplied to branches. We have worked out the logistics of collection and so we are inviting more Jamaicans to stop by any Scotiabank or Scotia DBG location to make a donation.” Scotiabank has operated in Haiti since 1972 and currently has 80 employees in four branches. The Bank says it will also ‘work around the clock to restore access to cash and accounts as soon as possible’ in Haiti.

National Commercial Bank

NCB has also launched a collection drive, in collaboration with Tara Couriers and Food For The Poor, in aid of Haiti. The Bank is accepting cash or kind for its efforts.

“Customers, staff and friends of NCB have given so generously and we encourage them to continue doing so. We feel privileged to be in a position to help in this effort. NCB’s first priority when initiating this drive was to ensure that Jamaicans islandwide who wanted to give, could give,” Sheree Martin, Senior Assistant General Manager, Group Marketing and Communications, NCB said. Cash Donations can be made to account numbers 061048596 for the United Way Disaster Fund; 471043885 for Food For The Poor, and 212387304 for the ODPEM. Donations of kind can be dropped off at any of the 42 NCB branches islandwide.

LIME

Telecoms company LIME Caribbean has also opened up its network to respond to the call for help. LIME has opened its text line for customers who wish to make a donation to the Haitian Earthquake Relief effort. Prepaid and postpaid customers can text the word “Haiti” to 4357 to make their donation. Each text costs JA $50. The entire amount collected across the Caribbean will be donated to the relief effort.

“We know that all of the Caribbean is deeply affected by what has occurred in Haiti and that many of our customers want to do whatever they can to help so we are happy to provide a way for people to make their contributions,” said LIME Caribbean CEO David Shaw. Shaw also noted that the company would match all employee contributions made to the effort.

Jamalco

The bauxite company is taking a unique approach to the donation. Head of Corporate Services and Government Affairs, Jamalco, Leo Lambert told Sunday Finance that the company would be making its contribution in trenches over a six month period. Jamalco has established a Haitian Earthquake Fund whereby employees can contribute cash via salary deductions over a maximum of six months. “It allows persons to contribute more because it is spread out over a period of time. Instead of finding $5,000 to give now, you can donate it over six months,” Lambert said of the initiative. “Therefore the contribution can be more meaningful.”

Employees can volunteer deductions of any amount they wish and for as many months within the period. Lambert said Jamalco will match the total contributions from employees. Additionally, the company is on a drive to collect clothing and non-perishable items from anyone willing to give.

GraceKennedy

GraceKennedy has also joined in the relief efforts. Douglas Orane, Chairman and CEO outlined the company’s contribution. “GraceKennedy Limited is pleased to support the international relief effort to assist earthquake ravaged Haiti with a donation of 6,000 cases of canned goods. Also, in response to the overwhelming concern expressed by our employees, the company has pledged to match 2:1 all funds donated by staff of our subsidiaries worldwide,” Orane said. “We are also partnering with the Salvation Army and employees through which we will be channelling individual donations of clothing and other relief items.”

Digicel

Digicel Group is donating US$5 million (J$445 million) in cash to support the relief efforts. Digicel’s donation will be made to the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who are spearheading the relief efforts in Haiti.The mobile phone provider is on of the largest companies in Haiti, after launching there in 2006.

Colm Delves, Group CEO of Digicel, said: “We are deeply upset and concerned at the news of the earthquake in Haiti and want to do whatever we can to support the desperately needed relief efforts. We hope that governments around the world will also support the people of Haiti and immediately provide much needed aid to assist with the huge recovery efforts that are now needed.

“The people of Haiti welcomed us and made us their own when we launched there in 2006 and we are determined to be there for them in their time of need. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and we would like to assure them that Digicel stands ready to assist in whatever way we can at this difficult time.”

Digicel is also using its text and voice lines to enable its over 10 million customers worldwide to donate money to the relief effort. Digicel customers are being asked to text the word “HELP” to 167 to donate $25 per text. On Friday, the company recorded over US$150,000 (J$ 13.35 million) in donations from Digicel customers worldwide.The company has also opened an international account so that persons all over the world can make a donation to the Haiti Relief Fund.

Other companies are still formulating their relief contributions. Barita investments have contributed $500,000 to the effort and is on a drive to collect baby clothes to be sent to Haiti. While Carreras is putting together its share of US$ 25,000 (J$2.2million) which parent company British American Tobacco plc has pledged to the effort.