Hurricane Melissa resulted in dozens of confirmed deaths across the Caribbean. The record-breaking hurricane caused an estimated cost in the tens of billions of dollars in damage, leaving a massive humanitarian crisis that required an immediate and coordinated international aid response. The full extent of the damage from this historic storm will not be known for many weeks or months.
Unscrupulous charities will sometimes use disasters as a money grab to raise funds for unrelated causes. CharityWatch does not add just any charity to our disaster alerts. We sort through the marketing fluff of charities to find out what specific aid is being provided to victims before adding an organization to our list. This list will be updated as new information becomes available.
The charities listed below are Top-Rated by CharityWatch for spending at least 75% of their cash budgets on programs; for maintaining fundraising efficiency of $25 or less to raise each $100 in cash donations; and for meeting CharityWatch’s governance & transparency benchmarks.
Below is a chart detailing the type of assistance each Top-Rated charity is supplying:
| Charity | Type of Assistance Provided for Hurricane Melissa Victims |
|---|---|
| All Hands and Hearts | Providing immediate disaster response, including distributing food, water, and essential supplies (e.g., solar lights), setting up connectivity hubs, and beginning debris and mud removal operations to support early recovery and home repairs in Jamaica. |
| CARE | Providing delivery of life-saving relief supplies, focusing on first aid, hygiene kits, emergency food rations, water and water treatment kits, and shelter materials in Jamaica and other affected areas of the Caribbean. CARE will also prioritize cash assistance to help families meet essential needs. |
| Catholic Relief Services | Providing emergency relief and long-term recovery support, including emergency shelter, clean water, hygiene kits, and essential supplies to families at risk in Jamaica and Haiti, working through local partners. |
| Church World Service (CWS) | Providing critical supplies to partners on the ground, such as CWS Hygiene Kits, Emergency Cleanup Buckets, and blankets. They focus on supporting the most vulnerable communities, including immigrants and refugees, and providing long-term recovery support and preparedness training. |
| Direct Relief & Direct Relief Foundation | Providing emergency funding and a wide range of medicines and medical supplies (including antibiotics, chronic disease medications, and hygiene kits) to local health facilities and the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Jamaica and other affected countries. |
| Episcopal Relief & Development | Working through local partners, including dioceses and agencies in Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, to provide critical supplies and support immediate and long-term recovery efforts |
| International Medical Corps | Working closely with local authorities in Jamaica to coordinate relief efforts and provide emergency medical teams, supplies, and equipment as soon as conditions permit. |
| Mercy Corps | Providing immediate and long-term aid to victims of Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean, specifically Jamaica and Haiti, through local partnerships. Their response focuses on urgent humanitarian needs and building long-term resilience to future disasters. |
| Operation USA | Working to help families impacted by supporting local groups that are providing food, water, shelter and healthcare. They continue to assess the situation as they look to provide cash grants and material aid. |
| Samaritan’s Purse | Preparing to deploy disaster relief teams and supplies, focusing on urgent needs such as shelter (tarps for roof damage), water purification, food, hygiene, and medical care, with their Emergency Field Hospital on standby. |
| Team Rubicon | Preparing to deploy teams of humanitarian aid volunteers to Jamaica to assist with the response effort. |
| United States Fund for UNICEF | Partnering with national authorities to provide emergency preparedness efforts and will provide humanitarian cash assistance to households in the Caribbean. |
Donors Beware
Scammers will exploit your feelings of empathy and compassion during times of crisis as a means of siphoning donations away from legitimate charities and into their own pockets. Read CharityWatch’s advice for avoiding charity frauds and scams:
5 Tips For Avoiding Charity Frauds & Scams
10 Tips For Giving In a Crisis
How “Psychic Numbing” Stops Us From Giving
Crowdfunding: The Wild West of Charitable Giving
ATTENTION: The charities listed in this alert were Top-Rated by CharityWatch at the time of
its publication. CharityWatch updates our ratings throughout the year. To see
if a particular charity is currently Top-Rated, please click on its name,
below.