Just hours after Hurricane Melissa ravaged western Jamaica on October 28, the DLW Give Back Foundation sprang into action. Seeing the widespread devastation across St. Elizabeth, DLW Foundation co-founder Gurvan Whitely said the team immediately launched what they called the “Melissa Operation Relief Effort.”
“A few hours after we saw the devastation, we started the relief effort,” Whitely recalled.
Whitely and teammate Stead Whitely traveled from New York to Jamaica from November 12–19, joining a larger team already mobilized in Kingston and St. Elizabeth. Their Kingston lead, Petrine Bryan, quickly sourced and stored supplies, and by the morning of November 12, she and local helpers had the relief truck packed and on the way to St. Elizabeth.
“The truck got to my home in Bellevue District one hour before me,” Whitely said. “We left the airport and went straight. We packed up everything into shopping bags and did a distribution from headquarters in Bellevue, and on Sunday and Monday, we were on the road.”
The team visited several hard-hit communities, including Lacovia, which Whitely described as “devastating.”
“Some of these people didn’t have much and lost everything,” he said. “I am still heartbroken.”
While only two members traveled from New York, Whitely emphasized that the relief mission was powered by a dedicated 19-member group spread across Kingston and St. Elizabeth. These included Petrine, Miss Yvonne, Ruth, Cherry, Gracie, Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell, Police Officer Maxwell, Tamika, Valrie, Sash, Miss Brown, Camille, Trevor, Michael, Tyrone, and their celebrated cook, Top Chef Conrad “Busha.”
He also credited his sister, Apostle Bernadine, who handled operations at home in Queens.
“She wasn’t with us in Jamaica, but she was at our headquarters on Guy R. Brewer in New York holding it down, so I can’t leave her out.”
Nearly 200 survival packages delivered
The DLW Foundation, established years ago to honor Gurvan’s mother, Doris Louise Whitely—a woman of faith who served as a bishop at the Mount Zion Church of Christ the Redeemed in Mall Hole, St. Elizabeth—distributed almost 200 care packages valued between US$8,000 and $10,000 to displaced and distressed families. Each package was designed to feed a family of four for roughly a week and included only non-perishable survival items such as rice, cornmeal, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, sardines, corned beef, tuna, mackerel, cooking oil, powdered drink mixes, chocolate, tea bags, coffee, and toiletries.
“Everything we gave out is survival food which could not spoil easily,” Whitely explained.
Founded in August 2013, the DLW Give Back Charity Foundation is based in Queens, New York, with strong roots in St. Elizabeth, where Whitely was raised. The storm’s impact hit close to home.
“Yes, we all had relatives affected,” he said. “My brother’s house top got blown off clean clean—and it’s a huge house. My mother’s house lost three zinc sheets. The church lost zinc and its salitex ceiling. Thanks be to God no one was injured.”
Whitely himself lost only his solar water heater—something he considers minor compared to the devastation he witnessed.
“That’s minor to a hardworking man who lost his home and has his children and wife looking at him, asking, ‘What’s next?’ Cho! It’s heartbreaking, and I couldn’t look away.”
Whitely said his commitment to relief work is rooted in lessons from his childhood.
“But without the prayers of my mother and the elders, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said. “They believed in me, and I was taught that you have to serve so that one day you will be served.”
The team focused efforts not only on well-publicized areas but also on underserved communities.
“We went to the community of Mall Hole because all the attention is focused on Black River, but other communities got hit too,” Whitely emphasized. “Seeing what happened to the southern part of the island is no joke.”
Despite dealing with their own family losses, the Foundation is already preparing for the next phase.
“The DLW team is working on the next project,” Whitely said. “Those on the ground in Jamaica are still helping to clean up, and we’re doing another food giveaway soon.”
As St. Elizabeth continues its long road to recovery after Hurricane Melissa, the DLW Foundation’s hands-on response underscores the power of community, sacrifice, and steadfast commitment.
“Some people lost everything,” Whitely said. “We just couldn’t look away.”
