Community Focus | Jamaican In Canada Donates 6 Mattresses To Linstead Hospital

After learning about the chronic shortage of beds facing some hospitals on the island, Gloria Bobb, a Jamaican native living in Canada, opted to do something about it.

She embarked on a fund-raising initiative, which culminated with her donating six mattresses to Linstead Public Hospital in St. Catherine on May 5.

The fundraiser, Bobb said, was supported by her friends from Kingston in Ontario, as well as a special friend from Hopeville, Ontario.

“We all hope this gift will be some form of help through this [COVID-19] pandemic,” said Bobb, who originally is from Morris Hall district in the Harkers Hall area of St. Catherine.

Her donation was inspired partly by another, which was made by a group in Jamaica that is associated with Dinthill Technical High School.

The group – Dinthill 1983 Link Up (Extension) – donated six mattresses to the hospital in February this year.

A member of the group, Deloris Rennalls, brought the February donation to the attention of her dear friend – Bobb.

Bobb ended up communicating with the Dinthill extension group about her interest in having six custom-made mattresses donated to the hospital.

The group provided her with technical support, and the rest became history.

A spokesperson for the group, Careen Davis, said it was a pleasure working to ensure Bobb got value for money.

She added that the hospital is highly appreciative of the donation it received from Bobb and her friends in Canada.

“I have spoken to the hospital’s CEO and the Nursing Service Personnel, and they were really glad – happy about the mattresses,” Davis further told The Beacon.

She, in collaboration with Bobb’s niece – Stacey Harding, did the handing over on behalf of the donors in Canada.

Harding, who is ecstatic about the act of kindness, said she and her aunt, for some time now, had been discussing ways to help address the shortage of beds at local hospitals.

She recalled witnessing patients being without beds on Sunday, April 18, when she took her injured son to Linstead Public Hospital.

“I was treated good there that Sunday, but after seeing people sitting up or kotching up because of a lack of bed facility, I am feeling really proud and excited about this [donation],” Harding further told The Beacon.

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