Hurricane Melissa has passed, but its impact continues to weigh heavily on communities across the Caribbean. In Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti, the aftermath of the storm has left behind widespread destruction and flooding. Many residents are still struggling to recover, and the need for humanitarian support remains urgent as families rebuild their lives from the devastation.
Organizations like Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) have stepped up to provide relief for those most affected. From their Doral headquarters at 1850 NW 84th Ave., GEM’s team and volunteers have focused on assembling and shipping essential supply kits designed to sustain families for up to two days.
The organization has seen a major increase in volunteer turnout, with hundreds of people contributing their time and effort to pack thousands of boxes of aid destined for storm-hit regions.
“We’ve had a major surge of volunteers starting on Halloween day,” said Santiago Neira, community project lead at GEM. “We had over 500 people helping us make boxes. I believe the production for that day was over 2,000 of our family GEM kits, each kit services a family of two for 24-48 hours so that’s around 6-8 thousand families that were supported just from the first wave of volunteers.”
Volunteers spend hours sorting clothing, packing supplies and preparing shipments to bring relief to those in desperate need.
Click here for more information on GEM donations.
