Hurricane Melissa Disaster Relief
Oct 31, 2025
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, 2025, as a Category 5 storm, causing widespread destruction and flooding. The storm resulted in at least eight deaths and displaced over 25,000 people, with 77% of the island losing power. The hurricane also affected other Caribbean nations, including Haiti, where at least 23 people died, and Cuba, where more than 735,000 people were evacuated.
In response, local, national, and international nonprofits have mobilized to provide humanitarian aid, medical assistance, and essential supplies to affected regions.
You can use your Vanguard Charitable donor-advised fund (DAF) account to support impacted communities in Jamaica and other Caribbean nations. The list below, developed in partnership with Charity Navigator, includes highly rated nonprofits that are actively involved in disaster relief and recovery efforts in the region.
**Nonprofits signed up for Grant Payments via PayPal and can receive funds more quickly than those sent via paper check.1
| Charity Name | EIN | Areas of support |
|---|---|---|
| Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Inc | 45-5257937 | The Center for Disaster Philanthropy Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund provides resources to community-based organizations to address medium- and long-term recovery needs, such as rebuilding homes and livelihoods and connecting survivors to disaster case management and legal services to improve their chances of recovering fully after a hurricane. |
| UNICEF USA | 13-1760110 | When hurricanes hit, flooding and landslides can destroy children’s homes, schools, and communities. UNICEF responds to hundreds of emergencies each year, providing kids with lifesaving support. |
| Save The Children Federation, Inc. | 06-0726487 | Save the Children works with communities to prepare for and mitigate the impact of disasters. They partner with governments and local organizations to provide immediate assistance when an emergency hits. |
| Haitian Health Foundation | 06-1135999 | HHF’s staff in Haiti has been working to help prevent the outbreak of cholera with hygiene kits, as well as food distribution, mobilizing their mental health team to address the psychological impact of this disaster, coordinating with local hospitals preparing clinics to treat injuries, and working closely with partners on the ground. |
| Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere | 13-1685039 | CARE, with their partners, is urgently mobilizing to deliver lifesaving relief in Jamaica and other areas in the Caribbean, including first aid, hygiene supplies, emergency food rations, water and water treatment kits, and other shelter supplies. |
| Americares | 06-1008595 | Americares is providing critically needed medicine, supplies, and immediate health care to those affected by Hurricane Melissa. |
| Direct Relief** | 95-1831116 | Direct Relief has shipped medical aid, and has caches of medicines pre-positioned throughout the region. The organization has committed $250,000 to the response and opened its medical inventory for requests. |
| Global Empowerment Mission, Inc | 45-3782061 | GEM is deploying rapid response teams and supplies to support those affected by Hurricane Melissa. |
| International Medical Corps** | 95-3949646 | International Medical Corps is deploying emergency teams to assist affected communities with lifesaving support and medical supplies. |
| Mercy Corps | 91-1148123 | Mercy Corps is delivering emergency aid and recovery support in regions impacted by Hurricane Melissa. |
| Food For The Poor, Inc. | 59-2174510 | FFTP is supplying essential supplies, generators, and hygiene kits to support hurricane victims. |
| Greatergood.org | 20-4846675 | Greater Good Charities is supporting communities and affected pets with food, clean water, medical supplies, and shelter. |
To support these charities or others:
Click here to login and recommend a grant: Give to charities. If you don't have access to your online account, you can register by selecting the Login button in the upper right-hand corner. Follow the prompts to register for online access.
If the organization isn't in your saved charities’ list, type the charity name in the Discover Charities search bar. When you find the charity you're looking for, click Start a Grant.
You'll be asked to select a grant purpose in the first step of the process. Select Disaster Relief as your purpose and Hurricane Melissa as the sub-purpose.
International granting options:
You may also choose to recommend a grant to an international charity through Charities Aid Foundation of America (CAF America), an industry leader in international granting. To do so, simply recommend a grant2 to CAF America, EIN 43-1634280, and enter the name of the charity you would like to support in Name of International Charity and enter the location.
To discover international charities that are responding to the this disaster and recommended by CAF America, click here.
The nonprofit community's response will be ongoing, and as such, these lists are not meant to be exhaustive.
Footnotes
1 Vanguard Charitable is now issuing grants via Grant Payments with PayPal. To receive a grant from PayPal, the nonprofit must be enrolled with PayPal and confirm their charity status. The above nonprofits marked with an asterisk have a confirmed enrollment status. To learn more about Grant Payments, click here: https://www.vanguardcharitable.org/nonprofit-organizations
2 Fees may apply.
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