EARLYACTORS COLLECTING WITH COMPASSION FOR HAITI

Driver Sophia Alexaandropolous with Naz Principal Alixann Narcisse-Campbell and Administrator Crystal Haughton

Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke had bribed her friend Sophia Alexandropoulos with a belly full if she would spend the morning driving her mini-bus to collect donated children’s clothes from schools in Montego Bay with EarlyAct clubs and deliver them to the Salvation Army headquarters. So over a hearty homemade breakfast, the route was planned, appointments were made and then the duo set off with Maxi Priest energizing them on the stereo.

The first stop was Naz Children’s Centre in Ironshore where the children’s clothes drive began as an idea of the EarlyAct secretary – 7 year old O’Neil Campbell. The school secretary and the Principal appeared with bag after bag of clothing, shoes and blankets until the mini-bus was filled to capacity – the door was slammed shut and the bags pressed down so Sophia could see out the back.

The first delivery is made to the West Green Salvation Army location. Volunteers file out to collect the donations

Delighted with their bounty, Rotarian Natasha and Sophia chattered their way to the Salvation Army headquarters and deposited the donations of 22 bags and boxes at the entrance of the building. Volunteers marched out and took them into a passage between the Thrift Store and the sorting room.

Rotarian Natasha nosed around asking questions about the overwhelming amount of clothes and boxes piled from floor to ceiling in the warehouse sized room – “disaster supplies up the top along the back; baby bottle nipples to the side; cleaning supplies for emergency situations and the rest clothes, clothes and more clothes” stated a volunteer matter-of-factly, “We’ve had to close the Thrift Store to handle the volume of donations to Haiti ! We sent one truck load full to the Salvation Army in Kingston last week and will be doing the same again later this week - they’ll be shipping the items to Haiti”.


Above: Five Salvation Army volunteers sort through the mountain of clothes that surrounded them.

In the next room, 5 volunteers sorted through the mountain of clothes that surrounded them, discarding items of no use to anyone, especially the victims of an earthquake. Querying a volunteer about the quality of donations received regularly at the Salvation Army, Rotarian Natasha was shocked to hear about shirts with holes, pants with no zipper, single shoes not a pair, stained and stretched baby clothes and even dirty underwear. Sometimes, whole bags of donations seemed to be a household’s good-for-nothings that were delivered to the Salvation Army location instead of the Montego Bay dump.

Flabbergasted, Rotarian Natasha wandered into the back room of the building, an old nursery evidenced by the murals on the wall and to her surprise saw Rotarian Keri Johnson quietly and industriously packing and taping boxes for shipment to Haiti. The Secretary of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army Western Divisional Headquarters, Keri had spent many of the last few days volunteering at the West Green location filling box after box of generously donated supplies from hotels, businesses and individuals in Montego Bay. The one problem she now faced was boxes. The supply was running low and the sorting room had just been filled with a mini-van full of items to be sorted and packaged.

With a new mission, Sophia and Rotarian Natasha rolled out to collect the EarlyAct donations awaiting them and to source the much needed commodity – boxes. Lamenting the quality of some donations and the insurmountable task of sorting and packaging, the duo’s spirits were soothed by Diana Ross as they headed through Bogue traffic to Junior Plus school.

The School Secretary Colister Reid efficiently led us to the storage area where bags of clothes awaited collection. The Principal – Jane Harper was busy teaching and gave us a thumbs-up as we traipsed back and forth loading up the mini-bus.

Photo: Junior Plus School Secretary Colister Reid, efficiently escorts us to the donations

Back on the road a selection of 80’s sing-alongs got Sophia and Rotarian Natasha to their next stop – Mega Mart to collect boxes. As luck would have it, merchandisers filled every aisle of the huge supermarket and as Sophia haggled with shelf-stockers for their biggest boxes, Rotarian Natasha requested a stash from the floor supervisor. After both avenues were exhausted, the ladies wheeled out 2 trolleys overflowing with boxes ranging in size from large to giant.

Photo: In the car park of Mega Mart, Sophia piles the precious commodity – boxes, into the mini-bus.

Triumphant, to the Bob Marley anthem “One Love” Rotarian Natasha and Sophia headed back to the Salvation Army where the boxes were graciously received and the load of donations taken in for sorting.

For the next leg of the journey Rotarian Natasha and Sophia brainstormed ways of raising awareness of the Thrift Store ; recruiting volunteers for sorting and re-opening the nursery that had been closed from lack of funds and children to support it.

Ideas were still flowing as they reached Montego Bay Prep School where Mrs. Hudson, EarlyAct Teacher Co-ordinator waited enthusiastically with her school’s donation which included clothes, tinned food and cash. The students who were enjoying morning break were eager to pose for the camera and receive thanks on behalf of The Rotary Club of Montego Bay and the children of Haiti. Rotarian Natasha and Sophia left the school with questions buzzing behind them “Are you from Haiti?” ; “How are the things going to get to Haiti?”

(Left to right) Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke, Early Act President Danea-Gay Williams and EarlyAct Teacher co-ordinator Ms. Bowen of Montego Bay Christian Academy.

A short distance away, the last collection was made at Montego Bay Christian Academy. The Principal Jerry Winkler, EarlyAct Teacher co-ordinator Ms. Bowen and Early Act President Danea-Gay Williams were on hand to load up the mini-van. Mr. Winkler commented on the children’s active participation in the clothing drive and mentioned how they felt a real part of the relief effort knowing they had donated something personal to the children of Haiti

EarlyAct Teacher Co-ordinator, Mrs. Hudson (back row, centre) with the children of Montego Bay Prep hand over their donations.

The donation collection warriors weaved their way through mid-day traffic in the centre of Montego Bay singing loudly to Prince as they made their final trip to the Salvation Army. The last dozen bags were offloaded and taken into the sorting room in instant-replay fashion by the volunteers who were grateful indeed for the donations, but gingerly asked “will there be any more?” Weary from the day’s activities, Sophia gladly stated “that’s all!”

As Rotarian Natasha was exiting the building, she noticed a bag of donated items gleaming in a clear ‘bed-in-a-bag’ plastic carrier from one of her trips. The clothes were clean, neatly folded and organized into piles of pants, shirts, boys and girls outfits and there were even some smaller bags inside containing nearly-new children’s underwear - this she thought must be from someone who had been a volunteer before and who really understands the meaning of donating clothes to those in need.

Hungry again after all the action, the donation duo devoured a tasty lunch and both declared that their bellies were indeed full, but not as full as their hearts after a day of “Service above Self” – Rotary style.

Written by Natasha Parchment-Clarke 25 Jan 2010