1 week ago
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The Mount Pleasant Football Academy team is banking on the unifying power of football and a strong sense of community to help in the Hurricane Relief Donation Drive which was launched on Wednesday during their Concacaf Caribbean Cup semi-final fixture.
While the St Ann-based club advanced to the final of the Caribbean Cup and qualified for the Concacaf Champions Cup, sporting director Paul Christie said Wednesday’s fixture was more than just football.
Ahead of the game, Mount Pleasant announced their donation drive aimed at providing relief for those impacted by the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
Christie said since their launch, they have seen a number of pledges and donations coming into the club, and said he is confident the influence of football can lead to more donations.
“The people always know that football is a powerful force and we saw it most strongly in 1998,” Christie said.
“Football has always been a unifying force between people of different race, colour, creed or class. Football is the great unifier and it is the most powerful unifying force in the universe.”
He added, “It started on Tuesday and ran into yesterday and it’s still going. We’re just happy to know that we’re in a position to assist wherever we can.”
His comments were echoed by Mount Pleasant head coach Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore, who said his staff and players are committed to helping those affected by the hurricane.
“We will continue to help in whatsoever we can as a club, as a team, as a staff and the players who are all committed to the cause,” Whitmore said.
“Whatever we can assist with, we will continue to do.”
HELPING HANDS
Christie said while he cannot give an exact figure on the number of donations received at this point, he revealed the club is in talks with members of corporate Jamaica regarding the donation drive.
One such entity, he revealed, is GraceKennedy, which has shared an interest in lending a helping hand.
Christie said the club will also engage with international representatives based in Miami and Haiti, with Haiti another country impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
The sporting director explained with the club’s growing relationship with Haitian players, they felt it was only right to reach out to representatives from the Caribbean country.
“We got a call from GraceKennedy and we’re going to be meeting with them but I can’t give any specifics regarding that as yet, because we’re finding out that corporate Jamaica is reaching out to us to help out in what we are doing,” he said.
“We have been in a longstanding relationship with Haiti and we will be meeting with representatives from Haiti as well as some friends of Jamaica who are based in Miami.
“I don’t want to be premature and mention any specifics, because the drive is not complete as yet, but I can say it was a good turnout.”
NO DEADLINE FOR DONATIONS
Christie also took the time to encourage others to help out in the donation where they can, and said there is no deadline regarding their drive.
Based on the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, Christie said it will be quite sometime before normality can be returned to western Jamaica.
“There is no deadline because when you look at what is happening, it is going to be a real pretty minute before any semblance of normality is restored in those areas. It is really bad over there.
“As we say, we’re encouraging any donations because whatever we achieve is just a drop in the bucket of what is required.”
English (US) ·