Gloversville man raises money for Jamaicans hit hard by Hurricane Melissa

Ballston Spa, NY (News10) — A home, taken away in an instant.

“We lost everything…it’s very devastating right now,” said Andrew Brae, a Gloversville man whose home in Jamaica had the roof torn off by Hurricane Melissa. “It’s very hard, it’s heart-breaking. When I hear my wife telling me the stories, I have to break down and cry because so many years, so many devastation. It’s going to take years to get back to normal.” 

Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc on roofs and swept away many homes entirely. While Brae works in Ballston Spa, his wife, Sadian, lives in Jamaica with three of their children.

“How you doing right now?” he asked, checking in with Sadian over Facetime.

“Not good,” she replied. “Stressing. It’s so confusing right now.”

Sadian had just delivered diapers to some locals and said a major road is destroyed, making it very difficult for people to get the supplies they need.

“There’s a lot of people over this side that is homeless and going through a lot, who need food, water, clothing, medical help and all that,” she explained. 

Unable to sit back through the suffering, Andrew is raising money to help his community get back on its feet. He has been buying supplies out of his own pocket to send home and just started a GoFundMe page. It has already raised $865 dollars. 

“Everybody deserves a helping hand,” he said. “We can definitely make a difference. I’m crying right now because it’s very emotional for me. As I see, like, the single mothers — no food, nothing for their kids, diapers, no formulas, everything that we take for granted. They need it now.”