The World Is Practically Begging Us To Become Heroes

If you have a platform, it's your right (and dare I say, responsibility) to use it for good.

Nov 11, 2025

Have you ever been the beneficiary of a GoFundMe campaign? I have. It was back in 2020, after losing my son during the pandemic.

Having someone unexpectedly raise money for you is a super awkward feeling. You graciously accept because you know it’ll save you from the situation you’re currently experiencing. But at the same time, you feel weird accepting help you’d likely never ask for yourself.

The one time I raised money for a stranger back in 2012, the funds contributed greatly to improving the quality of his life. And it completely restored my faith in humanity, as I witnessed dozens of my readers supporting a cause that had literally nothing to do with them.

If you haven’t read that story yet, I highly encourage it. It’ll change the way you look at your fellow humans.

This story will change your day!

I have always believed that if you have a platform, you should, without question, use it for good. The most challenging part about trying to do good is that most of us aren’t celebrities; therefore, we don’t have much reach, clout, or money.

However, the one thing I’ve always had is an incredible network of amazing humans who follow my online shenanigans. Yes…you’re included in that network 😊

And today, I’m here to change some lives again. If you’re not interested in being good today, you can click away right now. Nobody will notice, and nobody will judge.

Whose lives are we changing this week?

I’m giving you the backstories for these two people because, without stories, they’re just random people trying to survive the apocalypse on a chunk of land in the middle of the sea.

Since Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica two weeks ago today, an unofficial initiative has been circulating on social media platforms to “Adopt a Jamaican family” if at all possible.

So, I’m adopting TWO families of two men who made my life in Jamaica infinitely BETTER.

Both times I attempted to make their country my home (in 2011 and 2016), these two beautiful humans acted as my trusty sidekicks. Whenever I yelled, “Get in the car!” both of them were down for anything, anytime, no questions asked.

You can imagine our adventures, right? 😁

My very first partner in crime in Jamaica was Shane. I’ve mentioned him before; he was my neighbor when I had my apartment in Ocho Rios.

Shane and I were so inseparable back then that I often called him “my best girlfriend.” I didn’t have any close female friends in Jamaica, and let me tell you…it can wear you down when you feel like you have no one to confide in. He was that person for me.

Present-day Shane has a wife and two sons, and I can only imagine the stress of being a family provider when most jobs have been wiped out for the foreseeable future. For as much as Shane contributed to my life back in the day, helping his family right now is the LEAST I can do.

Shane and I at Worthy Park Rum Estate in 2012

My second partner in crime was Kemar. He and I met through an acquaintance and quickly became friends. Later on, he became my landlord when I ended up renting a suite in a massive house he managed near the south coast.

You've Gotta See This House!

Kemar was like a bonus son to me. He shares the EXACT same birthdate as my own (late) son. It always felt funny imagining that his mother was in labor the same day I was, in a country that I had not yet known about in 1992.

If not for Kemar, I would have never known how to tell when crabs are pregnant at 2:00 a.m. on dark highways 😆 And I would have never been able to take other Canadians out on this same hunt, just for laughs.

Also, without Kemar, I would have never had the privilege of swimming in an icy-cold azure-colored pond somewhere on the Appleton rum estate. Trust me, this place was so hidden that these are ‘approximate’ directions to get there:

The thought just occurred to me that those will never be accurate directions ever again, because it’s highly likely the star apple tree no longer exists after the hurricane. 😔

For the past two weeks, Kemar has been my eyes on the ground, sending me first-hand accounts of the struggle remote communities are dealing with after Hurricane Melissa. He lived in the hardest hit coastal community of Black River and lost his home. He’s now staying inland at his mother’s home, where they’ve been drying their mattresses off in the sun so they can sleep.

This is a video he sent the other day.

Jamaica is a country that has earned the adoration of the entire world. They’ve given us beautiful vacations, they’ve given us Usain Bolt, the universal language of reggae music, and a totally underdog bobsled team 😆 You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who Jamaica hasn’t touched in some way.

Many organizations have arrived with disaster relief, and if you’d rather donate to one of those, I highly recommend Samaritan’s Purse. They were one of the first on the ground the day after Melissa struck. My mother participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts with them in Mississippi in 2005. Incredible organization — I’ve already sent my donation to them.

But if you’d like to make a direct impact in the lives of people that I can actually communicate with, this is your chance. I would appreciate your support more than you know (and so will they!)

⬇️⬇️ Clicking the image below will take you directly to my fundraising campaign!

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