Showing Up for Jamaica
An Employee-Led Mission Supported by TannerCares
When Hurricane Melissa devastated Jamaica’s parishes, the impact wasn’t distant or abstract for Tanner Sales Executive Trishanna Barnhardt, it was personal. Trish grew up in Jamaica, and her family still lives in Kingston. She understood immediately how deeply communities were affected and how urgently support was needed.
Waiting wasn’t an option. Trish immediately began organizing a relief effort from the ground up. Once she shared the need internally, TannerCares stepped in, and our associates responded without hesitation.
A Company-Wide Response
The effort quickly grew beyond what any one person could accomplish alone. Across Tanner, employees and friends began donating clothing, diapers, toiletries, canned goods, bedding, and financial aid. Over the following days, our Charlotte facility filled with supplies as teammates stopped by with bags and boxes of essentials.
In total:
- Donations from employees and friends exceeded $4,275 — a record for a TannerCares drive
- TannerCares contributed an additional $5,000
- 1,100 lbs of goods were sorted, packed, and shipped
- Remaining funds were used locally in Jamaica to purchase food and essential items
Our logistics team played a critical role, preparing and palletizing the full shipment. Their work ensured that everything the team donated made it safely into the hands of the families who needed it most.
Two Trips, One Mission
Once the supplies were shipped, Trish led two trips across the western parishes and into the countryside—areas where the storm’s impact was most severe. She was joined by Gaby Bedoya on the first trip and Stefania Marquez on the second, both of whom traveled to represent Tanner and support the effort.
Across both trips, the team completed over 200 volunteer hours, which included:
- Visiting damaged homes and schools converted into temporary shelters
- Speaking directly with residents to understand day-to-day needs
- Distributing essential goods
- Conducting full needs assessments across multiple districts
- Documenting stories, photos, and videos
- Mapping safe distribution routes and identifying local partners
With the funds collected, the team purchased large quantities of basic food basket goods, enough to provide at least 500 families with bags of food and essential supplies.
Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force escorted the team throughout both trips, ensuring their safety and partnering with them in each community they reached.
Seeing Beyond the Damage
While the physical destruction was significant, what stayed with the team most were the people. Each one had a story. Each one was navigating their new reality and the emotional weight of loss and uncertainty. As the team traveled through rural areas and hard-hit districts, it became clear that the greatest needs extended beyond structural damage.
As Trish reflected:
“At some point, it stopped being about assessing damage and became more about understanding people; their emotions, their fears, their losses, but also their hope. What they needed most wasn’t technical or complicated. They needed dignity. They needed support. They needed someone to show up.”
One of the most humbling moments occurred when a community—one of the last visited—asked simply for water and clothing. Nothing more. A reminder of how basic needs become defining needs after a disaster.
The Power of Collective Impact
At Tanner, our mission is to improve lives through access. But our impact extends far beyond medicines or services. It shows up in how we support one another, and in how we stand with the communities connected to our people.
Trish’s leadership sparked this initiative, and our team amplified it. This is what collective impact looks like. This is TannerCares. This is who we are.
Read more about TannerCares and our global community efforts → TannerCares
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Tanner Pharma Group is a global pharmaceutical services company committed to improving access to medicines worldwide. Through TannerCares, our community impact initiative, we support employee-led efforts to serve the communities where we live, work, and make a difference.
