Sophia Brown’s foundation sends food and supplies to St Elizabeth after Hurricane Melissa

For months abroad, Sophia Brown had only followed accounts of Hurricane Melissa’s aftermath; a recent trip to her home parish of St Elizabeth let her take in the scale of the damage in person. In early March she went to Carisbrook to hand out relief bundles to families still rebuilding from the category five event that made landfall on October 28.

Working with her Angel Of The Hearts Foundation, she and a volunteer group issued 85 sets of groceries and other basics. The foundation also sent aid to the Marie Atkins Shelter in Kingston.

“It was very heart-wrenching looking from abroad and seeing what was going on in the island. It made me realise that we all have to give back to our community,” she told Observer Online.

Though she was born in Kingston, Brown grew up in Carisbrook, among the farming belts of St Elizabeth that bore some of the storm’s worst blows. She said her effort drew backing from Food For The Poor, singer Johnny Osbourne and Barbara Ellison.

Melissa inflicted heavy losses across St Elizabeth as well as Westmoreland, Hanover, St James and Trelawny, wrecking roads, housing and classrooms and contributing to 45 fatalities. The frightening images stirred members of the diaspora to channel millions in support, with authorities tracking the funds.

Each year the Angel Of The Hearts Foundation supports people living with Down syndrome; Brown underlined that one-off help is not enough. “It was necessary to go into my community and give back. It was really something to witness four months after the hurricane,” she said.