Hamptons Agent Lynda Packard Rallies Support for Storm-Ravaged Jamaica

Above, a pre-Hurricane Melissa view of Montego Bay, in Jamaica, from The Tryall Club. (Photo courtesy of Lynda Packard)

More than two weeks since Hurricane Melissa made landfall in western Jamaica, on October 28, a clear picture of the devastation on the Caribbean island-nation is still coming into view. The Associated Press reported Nov. 11 that the official death toll had reached 45, with another 15 people missing, and put the number of displaced households at 30,000.

But according to the Southampton, NY-based agent for Douglas Elliman Lynda Packard, those statistics far underestimate the scale of the catastrophe—and the urgent need for assistance.

“The news channels are not being clear on the numbers of people impacted,” she said, estimating that the “real numbers” are upwards of 1.6 million people.

Indeed, the suffering that so many Jamaicans are experiencing is deeply personal for Packard, who partially grew up in the West Indies and the Caribbean and has had a home in Jamaica since the 1990s. She served for more than a decade on the board of The Tryall Fund, a nonprofit that provides health and educational support services in Hanover, one of the six parishes on the west coast hit hard by the hurricane.

“All of the major items that we take for granted, no one has—no clean water or food, no electricity or cell communications—and there is substantial, if not total, destruction to their homes,” said Packard, noting that the suffering extends beyond familiar locations like Montego Bay, in St. James parish. “What is sadly not being discussed is the dire, on-going need of the people in the areas lesser known, which will not be a matter of a few weeks. In some areas, the recovery will be a matter of years.”

To help meet that need, Packard has been working closely with the Lenox Lewis League of Champions, which is not only collecting donations for hurricane relief, but also encouraging donations of specific items, such as tarps and baby formula, through their Amazon Gift Registry. Violet Chang-Lewis, MSW, the wife of the boxing legend who founded the organization, has spearheaded an effort to ship container homes designed in consultation with renowned Jamaican architect Isiaa Madden.

Packard recommended the following “fully vetted” charities, encouraging her friends and colleagues at Douglas Elliman to “choose what speaks to your heart.”

American Friends of Jamaica

The Tryall Fund

Lenox Lewis League of Champions

World Central Kitchen

“Any and all aid and contributions are so very welcomed,” she stressed, noting that the League of Champions’ Amazon Gift Registry can be used to send items directly to specific individuals. “Each of these charities are boots on the ground and providing daily aid and assistance.”

Reflecting on her longstanding connection to and abiding affection for Jamaica—the natural beauty, sense memories like “the special fragrance in the air and the chirping of the tree frogs,” not to mention the food (“you haven’t tasted heaven until you’ve had Jamaican rundown!”)—Packard says it all comes down to the joy and kindness of the Jamaicans themselves.

“It is the people that make Jamaica part of your heart,” she said. “The national motto is ‘Out of Many, One People.’ I think that speaks for itself.”