A Sunday night benefit at Hillsborough's Blue Bayou Club gave locals a chance to directly aid a community that needs their help.
The $10 cover charge patrons paid to listen to reggae music and enjoy each other's company will be wired to West End Negril, Jamaica, to help victims of Hurricane Ivan get back on their feet.
The benefit was a cooperative effort of several concerned community members, most of whom have traveled to the area and formed lasting friendships with many of its people.
"People go down (to Jamaica) for a vacation, but it becomes the eye-opening trip of a lifetime," said Dana Nall, one of the benefit's organizers.
"These are people who have led us into their homes and hearts so freely, without asking for anything in return."
Nall and her boyfriend, David Troy, have traveled to the West End Negril area numerous times and were quick to express their gratitude for the cultural and spiritual exchanges they had.
A poster in the back of the bar read "Dis wat a'gwaan in the community" and displayed photographs of the Jamaican people who will be helped by Sunday's donations. They are posing next to their storm-ravaged homes and schools, as well as with some of their American friends who showed up at Sunday's event. The community connection was apparent.
"Hurricane Ivan was the worst storm that most of these people have seen in their entire lives," Nall said. "Their homes and businesses have been washed into the sea, and supplies to rebuild are very expensive."
Nall said most of the aid from the government and humanitarian organizations has to travel through the capital of Kingston. Because West End Negril is situated on the opposite side of the island, West End residents have yet to see any substantial aid.
