Goldsmith’s Farm Market & Bakery Opening Official Drop-Off Site for Jamaica Hurricane Relief Effort

Goldsmith’s Farm Market and Bakery has been asked by the Jamaican Liaison Service — the government office responsible for supporting Jamaican agricultural workers in Canada — to serve as one of three official farm drop-off sites in Ontario for urgently needed relief supplies following the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm that has caused catastrophic flooding, landslides, and severe infrastructural damage across Jamaica

.“This hits close to home for us,” said Debby Oakley, Co-Owner and General Manager at Goldsmith’s Farm Market and Bakery. “Many local farms - including ours - depend on Jamaican seasonal workers every year. They’re part of our harvest, our community, and our extended farm family. We want to do everything we can to help their families back home rebuild.”

The market will collect essential goods and supplies from November 5 to 11, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at its outdoor checkout hut located at 207600 Highway 26 in Thornbury.

All donations gathered will be sent directly to Jamaica.

Goldsmith’s is grateful to community volunteers for their partnership in providing volunteers to help receive, sort, and organize donations throughout the collection week.

Items Most Needed

• Batteries (new, sealed), flashlights, lanterns, ropes, and bungee cords

• Buckets with lids, collapsible water containers, heavy-duty garbage bags

• Hygiene products and personal care kits

• Heavy-duty gloves, hammers, sledgehammers, and other clean hand tools

• Helmets, hard hats, portable generators, portable flood lights

• Rain gear, safety vests, safety goggles, shovels, spades

• Hard-toe boots, water boots, wheelbarrows, axes

• First-aid kits and over-the-counter medical supplies (new, sealed)

• Blankets, towels, washcloths, mosquito nets

• Food storage containers, bottled drinking water (sealed), crank radios

All items must be new or like-new, clean, and in working condition. Goldsmith’s can also coordinate supplier and industry donations and encourages agricultural and food sector partners across Ontario to get involved.

For questions or to arrange larger contributions, please contact info@goldsmithsmarket.com.

Donations can also be sent to the Jamaican government