I Love Jamaica Telethon raises over $65 million

The Government has announced that the I Love Jamaica Telethon and Virtual Concert held on Sunday raised more than $65 million towards the national Hurricane Melissa relief programme.

The fundraiser took place on Sunday and was broadcast on national television and streamed across the world via social media. It featured almost 30 of Jamaica’s leading reggae, dancehall and gospel artistes.

In announcing the result of the fundraising effort, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, explained that “45 million dollars ($45,765,495) had already been received and deposited to the Support Jamaica account, and we anticipate that an additional sum of approximately 20 million dollars ($19,970,000), which has been pledged, would be received soon.”

She expressed appreciation to all those who supported the fundraising telethon.

“Thank you to the man and the woman in the street on the island and in the Diaspora as well as members of corporate Jamaica, and the people of the world who are rallying in every way possible to support our brothers and sisters who were hardest hit by this most powerful of hurricanes,” said Grange.

Grange also thanked the performers for contributing their time, talent, and financial resources towards the national hurricane relief effort.

“We in Jamaica are lucky to have such committed, generous, patriotic, compassionate and caring people in our entertainment fraternity, including sports stars and broadcasters, who never let us down in times of crises,” said Grange, who also commended Red Stripe and Digicel for their role in the staging of the telethon and virtual concert.

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