‘Every mickle mek a muckle’ - Beenie Man urges Jamaicans to help storm victims

Dancehall icon Beenie Man took the stage at Sunday's I Love Jamaica telethon and virtual concert with a mission that stretched far beyond music.

Fresh off the ground from his own relief efforts across storm-ravaged communities, the entertainer said the time had come for Jamaicans at home and abroad to rally behind those battered by Hurricane Melissa.

"It's all about action, and every mickle mek a muckle," Beenie Man said, moments before taking to the stage for the concert.

"If a even a dollar or two, just send it," he urged.

The event forms part of the national effort to support recovery, following the passage of Category Five Hurricane Melissa on October 28. At least 45 deaths have been blamed on the storm, which ravaged the western section of the country.

The telethon, staged at the National Indoor Centre and powered by the Ministry of Entertainment, Culture, Gender and Sport drew a wave of entertainers who cranked up the energy to help reel in urgently needed donations.

For Beenie Man, this cause is personal. He told THE STAR that lending his voice on stage was just one way he has been helping his country to recover from the ravages of the storm.

"The vibe is nice here, I really appreciate it, but the energy on the ground to help is really needed," he said.

Approximately 146,000 buildings impacted by Hurricane Melissa across Jamaica sustained major to severe structural damage, authorities have disclosed. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management estimates that 360,000 people and 90,000 households were "directly impacted" by the storm.

Beenie Man has lamented the impact of the hurricane.

"A lot a people died and some still can't even reach their families and it's not a good look or a good feeling," he said.

As he spoke, the weight of what he witnessed was still fresh. In St Elizabeth--the birthplace of his mother and grandmother--he saw destruction unlike anything before.

"Straight eye water man, lone tears," he said. "My mother and grandmother come from St Elizabeth, and is a place weh mi used to go when mi a likkle youth and still go when mi a big man, and it's not a place I've ever seen that devastated in my entire life. It look strange, like is a nuclear come wid dis hurricane," he said.

On Sunday, as night settled over the National Indoor Centre, Beenie Man sealed his message with music. Dressed in sleek black with silver accents, he held the audience spellbound with classics like Girls Dem Sugar and Romie, before closing with a gentle, poignant rendition of Toots and the Maytals' Take Me Home, Country Road.

For him, this moment - and this movement - symbolises Jamaica's heartbeat.

"Before we started representing Jamaica for this disastrous hurricane that came here - Melissa - we were the voice of Jamaica. Therefore, it's the right time for us now to be the voice of Jamaica to mek di people dem give us some donations to help those in need," Beenie Man reasoned.

Jamaicans can donate by adding credit to their Digicel or Flow phones and texting one of the following lines as many times as they wish: 1876-444-5501 - J$150, 1876-444-5502 - $1,000 or 1876-444-5503 - $5,000. Persons can also make donations by visiting japromise.org or supportjamaica.gov.jm.