(Courtesy Good Deeds Day Jamaica)
The spirit of compassion and helping neighbors is strong in the Caribbean where 26 island nations participate in Good Deeds Day (GDD). In 2025 Jamaica began its inaugural year with the GDD with the mission of enhancing the well-being and quality of life for children, seniors, and communities.
In the spirit of the mission and following in the footsteps of GDD in other Caribbean countries, that first year was ambitious and very well received according to a statement from Carmesha Bromfield James, the Good Deeds Day leader. The first initiatives had over 300 participants in various projects in St. Catherine, Jamaica. These included refurbishing a canteen at Ewarton Primary School, supporting sowing seeds of success – a gardening project which engaged youth by planting gardens in schools –, and kicking off a computer mentorship program.
Good Deeds Day also partnered with the Ewarton Gospel Lighthouse church and began a weekly soup kitchen to provide meals to those in the community and surrounding areas. This highly successful program had to be discontinued when the kitchen suffered damage from Hurricane Melissa. The program will start up again after the building is usable again.
The Aftermath of the Hurricane
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica near New Hope as a Category 5 Hurricane, reported CNN, with sustained winds of 185 mph. As the storm approached the island nation, the World Meteorological Organization warned that the effects would be catastrophic.
“For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure,” WMO tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan told CNN. When the hurricane moved on to Cuba it left mass devastation in its wake. Around 77 percent of Jamaica was left without electrical power. There was an urgent need for food, water, medical supplies, and power in the affected areas.
That’s where Good Deeds Day Jamaica in collaboration with J & R Helping Hands Corporation stepped up, Bromfield James told Goodnet. The organizations coordinated relief efforts in the hardest hit parishes.
More than 500 food and hygiene packages, water, clothing, and tarps were distributed to residents to help them cope with displacement and property damage. Generators were provided in several communities including a shared generator in Llandilo that allowed people to charge cellphones and tablets providing a lifeline after the storm.
“Volunteers worked directly within communities to ensure that vulnerable residents received essential supplies and support, reinforcing a people centered approach to disaster response,” Bromfield James said. “With no media coverage and no spotlight, our team worked earnestly to genuinely touch every person we encountered, bringing a glimmer of hope during a time of despair.”
Going Forward in 2026
The spirit of the people of Jamaica will keep growing. Bromfield James said she hoped to have over 400 volunteers participating in the 2026 GDD initiatives which will include a hospital outreach and the donation of medical supplies at a local facility in St. Elizabeth.
Other projects include the expansion of Sowing Seeds of Success as well as a beach and community cleanup project.
Jamaica will come back stronger after the storm, with a greater sense of community. After all, Bromfield James expressed, “We are stronger together!”
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Good Deeds Day, an annual global day of doing good, is the pinnacle of doing good year-round. Initiated in 2007 by businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison, Good Deeds Day has grown to 115 countries with millions of participants. Good Deeds Day 2026 will be on April 12.
