ITNAC leads major relief effort for Jamaica and Haiti

Senior Reporter

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Is There Not A Cause? (ITNAC) is spearheading a major relief operation for Jamaica and Haiti, where communities are still struggling to recover from the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa, which battered parts of the northern Caribbean earlier this month.

ITNAC founder Avonelle Hector-Joseph said the organisation moved quickly once the scale of the devastation became clear, mobilising regional partners to provide food, shelter supplies, and emergency assistance for families left displaced.

“We are one region, one people,” Hector-Joseph said. “Even with our own challenges at home, we could not sit idly by. We immediately rallied for our Jamaican and Haitian brothers and sisters.”

Following the storm, ITNAC teams travelled to some of the hardest-hit Jamaican parishes—St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Falmouth, and Trelawny—to assess needs and deliver urgent support.

“People were sleeping on the ground. Some of the ladies had no underwear for weeks,” Hector-Joseph recalled from a shelter in Westmoreland. “We knew we had to move fast.”

Corporate partners, including San Brasco, provided 154 zinc sheets for emergency roofing repairs, while Marriott associates and other donors contributed pillows, mattresses, and essential hygiene products. Several Trinidad and Tobago schools, including St Francois Girls’ College and other denominational institutions, organised student-led donation drives to support the relief initiative.

A 1.5-tonne truck loaded with supplies has already departed for ITNAC’s coordinators for distribution to affected Trinidadian students and Jamaican families.

Haiti, which suffered deadly flooding and structural damage from Hurricane Melissa’s outer bands, remains difficult to access due to ongoing instability. Hector-Joseph said ITNAC has been routing shipments through Miami to ensure aid reaches communities on the ground.

“More than 30 people have died in Haiti because of Melissa,” she said. “They cannot be ignored. We’re getting goods into the safer zones where our coordinators can still operate.”

According to Hector-Joseph, the full impact of the storm will be felt long after public attention shifts elsewhere.

“This is 2025, and we met people who still haven’t recovered from Hurricane Dorian in 2019,” she said. “Imagine living just below the poverty line—then Dorian hits, COVID knocks you down, and now Melissa. It’s disaster on top of disaster.”

She noted that some families her team encountered had gone 11 days without receiving even a bottle of water.

With ITNAC planning to remain active in both countries for months, Hector-Joseph urged citizens and organisations not to underestimate the value of small, steady contributions.

“You can’t give what you don’t have, but give what you can,” she said. “Together we can make a difference.”

Gesturing to the stacks of sorted supplies behind her, she reaffirmed ITNAC’s core mission:

“It’s not about the lights or the fancy stuff. It’s about the lives we touch. We are One Region. We are Response Caribbean. We are Response.”

ITNAC relief is expected to be shipped to Jamaica in the coming week.