A Jamaican Fundraiser: The Heartbeat of Treasure Beach

by Katharine Law Novak

Please scroll to the bottom if you want fundaraiser information.

On Jamaica’s south coast — a place we hold so dear, in the close-knit community of Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth — families are facing unimaginable loss. Just sixteen months after Hurricane Beryl devastated the region, another Category 5 storm has torn through the same coastline, destroying homes, farms, schools, and the fishing villages that sustain local life. Power and water remain out in many areas, roads are impassable, and hundreds are sheltering in schools and churches. Although the south coast was hardest hit, communities across Jamaica have also been deeply affected, with widespread damage and disruption to daily life.

This blog is written to share that story — of heartbreak, resilience, and the enduring spirit of Jamaica’s south coast — and to invite your help. All proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation, which is on the ground rebuilding homes, supporting schools like Newell High, and helping families recover.

I met Laura Henzell at a party in New Orleans during Mardi Gras a few years ago. She told me she was from Jamaica, and before I could stop myself I said, “I love Jamaica!” — even though I had only been once before, I had always longed to return.

I fell in love with the sounds of the island when I was just twelve. My seventh-grade teacher used to drive me to school and play a cassette of The Harder They Come. I didn’t know then that the groundbreaking 1973 film — written and directed by Sally Henzell and her late husband, Perry Henzell — had carried reggae across the world for the first time. I did catch what David Rodigan (a legendary British DJ and radio presenter known for championing reggae and dancehall music since the 1970s) calls “reggae fever” — and I’ve had it ever since.

The film and its soundtrack, featuring Jimmy Cliff, revealed the soul of Jamaica — its struggle, pride, and hope — through story and song. The Library of Congress selected the soundtrack for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2021 for its role in shaping reggae’s global legacy. Those songs — You Can Get It If You Really Want, Many Rivers to Cross, The Harder They Come — were the ones Todd and I danced to with our friends in our boarding school dorm rooms and at school dances.

At thirteen, I visited Jamaica for the first time and saw a whole different life beyond my hometown of Tiburon, California — a place so unlike anything I had known. The vivid landscapes, the openhearted ease of strangers, and the strength of people living with far greater hardship changed me. Life there felt humbler and richer all at once — freer, more rooted, more real.

Only recently did I learn from my mother that my great-uncle, Ted Barnsdall Law, had helped conceive and develop the Tryall Club, one of Jamaica’s first luxury resorts, founded in 1958 on the site of an old sugar estate near Montego Bay. I had no idea until now that Jamaica had, in a way, already been part of my family story long before I arrived. I suppose love for the island runs in my veins. Even more ironic, Uncle Ted came up with the idea for Tryall with Frank and John Pringle, family friends of the Henzells.

So when Laura said, “You should come to our family’s hotel in Treasure Beach,” I got the idea for a vacation to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary. A few months later, we made the trip — driving two and a half hours from Montego Bay to the edge of the island where the land meets the Caribbean in quiet conversation. Immediately, as corny as it may sound, I felt like I was home.

The Road to Treasure Beach

The road to Treasure Beach winds through miles of farmland — deep red and gold soil, goats grazing near mango stalls, the air thick with sun and salt and lush tropical landscapes. When you reach the top of the last hill and see the coastline below — fishing boats pulled onto the sand, almond, tamarind, and lignum vitae trees leaning toward the sea — it feels like arriving somewhere deeply natural, spiritual, and true.

When we walked into Jakes, Adrian, whose smile I will never forget, wrapped me in a bear hug that felt like a welcome home. In that instant, Todd and I knew: Treasure Beach wasn’t just a place we loved — it was a place that loved us back.

An Artist’s Vision: Jakes — Sally’s Dream Made Real

Every inch of Jakes carries the imprint of Sally Henzell and her son Jason, its creators and hearts. The cottages and villas evoke joy and Caribbean colors — coral pinks, cobalt and turquoise blues, lavenders, bright yellows — each one with a unique name like Seahorse, Cowrie, Starfish, and my favorite, Mussels. Hand-painted tables swirl with Matisse-like designs; mosaic tiles, shells, and mirrors serve as eye candy. Bright African fabrics decorate the rooms, reflecting the island’s creative pulse and Sally’s unique style.

Sally's hands and heart — every brushstroke, photograph, and painting (many being gifts from guests) — shaped Jakes. It’s one of those rare places where art and hospitality live in harmony.

And the guests — well, they’re part of the story too. Jakes attracts artists, writers, and adventurers from around the world. I have joked with Jason that each trip feels like an episode of The Love Boat — a new cast of fascinating, big-hearted characters every week, all drawn to the same magnetic mix of beauty, community, and creative energy.

Among the many who make Jakes special is Thellwell, part of the Jakes team and the one we fondly call our “personal trainer.” Only for him would we rise at 5:30 a.m. on vacation to walk with him and watch the sunrise over Treasure Beach. He reminds us to give thanks for life — to stretch, breathe, and greet the day with gratitude.

His mantra, “Mind over matter,” stays with me. It’s how this community lives: no hardship too heavy, no storm too strong to overcome. Treasure Beach endures because its people meet every challenge with positivity, grace, and gratitude.

We hope to help Jakes rebuild, as no destruction can take away the memories we have built there. Nothing can change the magic of Jakes.

After the Storms

Just sixteen months ago, on July 3, 2024, Hurricane Beryl — a Category 4 storm — made landfall a few miles east of Treasure Beach, slamming Jamaica’s south coast with devastating force. Homes were torn apart, crops flattened, and fishing boats tossed into the sea. Thankfully, there was no loss of life, although the economy has been deeply affected.

Jakes’ family motto was “Building Back With Love.” Boy, did they show us how to do that. It was so exciting to see the newest improvements and pride born out of sorrow.

Now, a Category 5 storm has struck — stronger, slower, more destructive — hitting communities that had barely recovered. Friends’ roofs have been torn off, roads are impassable, communication is sporadic, and we still haven’t heard from several dear friends.

Across Jamaica’s south coast, entire communities have been shattered. In St. Elizabeth, homes are roofless, farms have been washed away, and schools and hospitals stand flooded. The fishing villages that sustain so many families have lost their boats and gear to the sea. Power and clean water are still unavailable in many areas, and roads remain blocked by fallen trees and debris.

It’s not only a local disaster — it’s a national heartbreak. For a country that already faces economic hardship, storms like this push recovery beyond what most can bear alone. Hurricane Beryl deeply affected tourism — the lifeblood of many coastal towns — and this new storm has compounded those losses. It will take months, even years, for families, farmers, and small businesses to rebuild what was lost.

This morning, I heard from Audrey Ellington, my dear friend and principal of Newell High School. The school itself is intact, but more than 100 people are taking shelter there as the nearby community lies under water. It’s unthinkable — the grief, the stress and fear, the waiting.

We had planned to travel to Jamaica on November 6 to continue our work at the Newell High School Literacy Lab, training teachers and expanding programs. Now, even getting there may be impossible for a while. Still, we plan to go — to clean up, to rebuild, to stand beside our Jamaican family when the time is right.

That is why we are creating this fundraiser: to help the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation continue its essential work rebuilding homes, supporting schools, and sustaining youth programs.

Recently, we attended a ceremony in New York City honoring Jason Henzell with a humanitarian award for his leadership during and after Beryl. Watching him and his family — their laughter, their joy — was profoundly moving.

That night, I saw his mother Sally, radiant with pride as her son carried forward the work she and her late husband began decades ago. Her eyes told the story of a lifetime devoted to art, community, and love of country. I can’t imagine her sorrow now, watching the place she built endure another devastating storm. I believe in her strength and grit, though, and she has endless supporters who will stand by her.

Our Work with Newell High School

Our connection to Newell High School in St. Elizabeth began through Jason, the school’s Board Chairman, whose vision for education mirrors the same spirit that built Treasure Beach. Through him, we met Principal Audrey Ellington — and that meeting changed everything.

Audrey leads with her hands in the soil and her heart in her students’ futures. I’ve walked beside her across the cinnamon-colored earth of her farm, planning her onion crop. I’ve watched her at 4-H events, cheering as students presented projects they grew and cared for — from seedlings to rabbits.

She’s also a beekeeper, sharing both her honey and the science of beekeeping with her students. Walking with her in the nearby town of Black River is like walking around with a celebrity. I watched her give her own money to former students in need. She’s one of the most compassionate, selfless people I have ever met and is a role model as a fellow educator that I look up to. Her grace is an inspiration.

Together, we dreamed of a space where struggling readers could learn to thrive. Many Newell students enter high school reading at a kindergarten level or below — not from lack of intelligence, but because they’ve never been taught in a way that honors how they learn, and that their first language is Jamaican Patois.

That dream became the Newell Literacy Lab — a bright, air-conditioned, welcoming classroom where small groups receive instruction based on the Science of Reading. It’s a place where teens rediscover their confidence and their voice.

Our partnership with Audrey and her teachers recently caught the attention of the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation, a respected U.S. foundation dedicated to democracy, civic education, and literacy. While it usually funds projects in the U.S., it made a rare exception — awarding a major grant to support the Newell Literacy Lab. The Foundation saw in this work a model of grassroots democracy in action: a rural community empowering its youth through literacy and access to knowledge to give students opportunity and break generational illiteracy.

Our work in Jamaica is both professional and personal — built on friendship, trust, and faith in people’s potential. Every time I walk across the Newell campus or stand with Audrey in her fields, I’m reminded that the future of literacy — and of hope — depends on communities like this one.

A Family Effort

This work has changed not only students’ lives but ours. Our children have grown from this community, learning lessons no classroom could teach. They’ve participated in basketball camp through BREDS’ youth programs, gifted and delivered laptops to schools, and helped set up the Newell Literacy Lab.

Through it all, they’ve learned what community really means — that resilience, joy, and generosity can bloom even in hardship. Treasure Beach has shown us that real wealth lies not in what we have, but in what we share and build together.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said after visiting Jamaica in 1965:

“Here you have people from many national backgrounds: Chinese, Indians, so-called Negroes, and you can just go down the line — Europeans, and people from many, many nations. Do you know they all live there and they have a motto in Jamaica, ‘Out of many, one people.’ And they say, ‘Here in Jamaica we are not Chinese, we are not Japanese, we are not Indians, we are not Negroes, we are not Englishmen, we are not Canadians. But we are all one big family of Jamaicans.’”

That sense of shared humanity — of dignity, resilience, humor, and hope — is the true heartbeat of Treasure Beach. Almost every person going through this tragedy has told us, “Give thanks for life.” We are truly grateful that lives have been spared — and for the eagerness of friends offering to help.

How to Support

All funds raised go directly to the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation, supporting hurricane recovery. All donations can be made through The American Friends of Jamaica — a trusted nonprofit partner. Please specify: “BREDS, Treasure Beach” on your donation form, and if you are willing, please email us what you gave at nolalsp504@gmail.com so we can thank you and report back what we raised collectively.

Donation link: https://theafj.org/

Thank-you gifts that Todd and I will personally give you:

• $250 donation — BOOK:The Newell Digest A printed copy of The Newell Digest — over 130 original decodable stories created as curriculum for Newell High students, leveled for K–2nd grade and aligned with UFLI Foundations, with topics that engage preteens and adults. These stories are about the Treasure Beach community and beyond. (If you prefer, you may donate your copy directly to a student in the Newell community.)

• $500 donation — RECORD: The Harder They Come 50th Anniversary LP The landmark 50th-anniversary edition of the album that introduced reggae to the world, featuring Jimmy Cliff and other legends, with a 20-page booklet and liner notes.

• $1,000 donation — BOOK: Jamaica Vibes by AssoulineA stunning coffee-table celebration of Jamaica’s culture, creativity, and style — from freedom to music, design, and natural beauty.

Smaller gifts are also deeply appreciated. The phrase “Every mickle mek a muckle” means in Jamaican Patois that many small things add up to a large one. Any contribution — no matter the size — helps rebuild hope.