LITTLE ROCK, Ark.— A Beebe man and his nephew are taking the Arkansas spirit overseas to help those devastated by Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in Jamaica as a powerful Category 5 storm earlier this week.
Clint Roe, a longtime volunteer with Ground Force Humanitarian Aid, says the group specializes in disaster response and recovery efforts. This mission marks their first international deployment.
“What we are doing right now is I got a phone call about two days ago that said, ‘Hey, we are going to go to Jamaica,’ and I said, ‘Okay, let’s go,’ and so here I am,” Roe said. “I left Little Rock, I’m in Lafayette, we are loading a storage container with our supplies and things that we are going to use in Jamaica once we arrive there.”
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Roe says the small team plans to set up a base camp in some of the hardest-hit areas. The camp will provide hot meals, distribute supplies, and serve as a hub for other nonprofit organizations working in the region.
“We will be boots on the ground in Jamaica on Saturday afternoon,” Roe said. “From Saturday, for how long we are going to stay there, we never know. Ground Force is all about being the first one there and the last one to leave.”
The Arkansas-based volunteers will be joined by seven to ten other nonprofit groups already coordinating on the island. Together, they’ll provide critical items such as generators, fresh water, and medical tents where doctors and nurses can offer free care to those affected.
“For what I’ve seen on the news, they really need it,” Roe said. “Going to Jamaica is very special. It’s a country that we get to help that really needs it, especially at this time.”
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Among the team is Roe’s nephew, 18-year-old Mason Curls, who just enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. Curls says the work has given him a new outlook on the power of service.
“Coming into the organization has really opened my eyes to wants and needs because you come up on areas that are just completely devastated from these storms,” Curls said. “Whenever you go into these places and you see it absolutely devastated, it is very, very life-changing to me.”
Curls says experiences like this one mirror what he hopes to continue doing through the Coast Guard, which often assists in disaster response and humanitarian relief.
“A lot of what the Coast Guard does is humanitarian aid, sometimes after hurricanes,” he said. “They come into the community, whether that is dropping supplies, looking for missing people, or just helping the community.”
How to help those impacted by Hurricane Melissa
Ground Force Humanitarian Aid expects to remain in Jamaica as long as needed. Roe says their mission is simple: to bring hope, relief, and the Arkansas spirit to those struggling to recover.
To volunteer or donate, visit GroundForce.ngo
