Hurricane Melissa Relief Appeal.
When disaster strikes, the most vulnerable are hit the hardest. The Merle Thomas Foundation is stepping forward to provide immediate relief to families across Jamaica who are facing displacement, loss, and uncertainty.
What are we doing on the ground?
The foundation, with the help of our amazing volunteers, is assembling care packages filled with essential items, including food supplies, hygiene products, medical basics, and other necessities that help families stay safe, healthy, and supported during this difficult time.
But we cannot do this alone.
Your support allows us to put these packages into the hands of those who need them most. Whether through financial contributions, donated goods, or corporate partnerships, every act of generosity makes a real difference.
Supporting the Spalding Community.
The Merle Thomas Foundation has chosen to focus our relief efforts on the Spalding community, one of the areas most significantly impacted and in urgent need of support. Many families in Spalding are facing displacement, limited access to clean water, and ongoing disruptions to daily life following the recent disaster.
By concentrating our resources on a single community, we can ensure that our response is targeted, effective, and meaningful. This approach allows us to deliver care packages directly to households, identify specific needs on the ground, and provide sustained support as families begin to rebuild.
Our aim is not only to provide immediate relief, but to stand with the people of Spalding during this difficult moment and help restore stability, dignity, and hope.
Your contribution helps us make a direct impact - family by family, home by home
Inside the Merle Thomas Foundation Care Package
Hygiene & Dignity Essentials
In moments of crisis, maintaining personal hygiene becomes difficult but remains essential. These items help prevent infection, support overall wellbeing, and provide a sense of dignity and normalcy during an otherwise destabilising time. Cleanliness is both a health need and a human one
Emergency Nutrition
High-protein, shelf-stable foods are critical in the immediate aftermath of disaster. These items offer quick nourishment, energy, and reliability when access to cooked meals is limited. They help families stay strong and sustained while rebuilding begins.
Staple Food Supplies
Staple ingredients provide families with the foundation for multiple meals, allowing them to stretch resources over several days. Rice and flour are affordable, versatile, widely used across Jamaica, and form the backbone of many household dishes, making them essential for longer-term recovery and stability.
Clean Water & Women’s Essentials
Access to safe drinking water is one of the biggest challenges after disaster. Purification tablets ensure families can make contaminated water safe, reducing the risk of illness.
Menstrual products ensure that women and girls do not face additional hardship during an already overwhelming moment, thereby supporting dignity, health, and comfort.
One Care Package Contains:
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1× Toothbrush
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1× Toothpaste
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1× Washcloth
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1× Bar of Soap
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1× Tin of Baked Beans
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2× Tins of Sardines
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10× Water Purification Tablets
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1× Breakfast Bar
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1× 1kg Bag of Rice
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1× 1.5kg Bag of Flour
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(For women) 1× Pack of Menstrual Sanitary Pads