Beenie Man Steps Up To Help Standpipe Residents Rebuild After Fire
Dancehall star Beenie Man, through the Beenie Man Foundation, has moved to offer some well-needed assistance to residents of Standpipe in St. Andrew, Jamaica, whose homes were recently destroyed in a massive fire.
The Grammy Award winner took to his Instagram page yesterday to highlight the work of his foundation, which is this time around expected to benefit at least 20 children, who were left homeless as a result of the blaze.
“Grateful to be able to assist the people,” Beenie says in the Instagram Reel. He adds: “Big up to the @beeniemanfdnja for always lending a helping hand to those in need”, which was capped off by the hashtags #EachOneHelpOne #BeenieManFoundation and #BeenieMan.
The Sim Simma artist explained just how he and his foundation would be assisting the affected residents.
“Di people dem house bun dung roun’ a Standpipe, zeen? So, we a assist dem wid some materials so dem can build back dem house. So, yeah… a dat we deh pon. Beenie Man Foundation, bless up,” he said.
The 50-year-old, who explored various sections of the community throughout the video, attempted to give some insight as to the extent of the damage and the work ongoing to remedy it.
He shared: “We deh ya a Standpipe and work a gwaan right through, yuh zeet? As you can see, di whole place bun dung. Di whole place flat.” As he continues to look around, he shows portions of charred wood still standing from the destroyed apartments, as well as men working on laying multiple foundations.
The video also highlighted truck-loads of building blocks being deposited in the community.
According to several reports, the devastating blaze occurred on Friday morning, February 24.
Though fire trucks from the Half Way Tree, Trench Town and York Park fire stations responded, it proved not enough to stop the monster blaze, which reportedly destroyed some 11 units – eight houses and three businesses.
Though the losses incurred were estimated to be in the millions, Beenie Man’s foundation should provide some much-needed relief.
Stars such as Bounty Killer, I-Octane and others seem to agree, as they threw their endorsements behind the charitable move by the Girls Dem Sugar artist.
Bounty Killer commented: “Nation builder hand in hand”, while I-Octane simply wrote: “Greatness.”
Fans of the Dancehall legend also chimed in, expressing their appreciation for the move.
“More blessings” said a few of the comments, while others made use of the ‘clapping’ emojis to convey their sentiments.
This Beenie Man Foundation has been incredibly active over the years, though mostly under the radar. In 2021, the rural community of Shrewsbury District, St. Elizabeth, had Beenie’s foundation to thank for its then newly erected signage after being without one for years. Prior to that, in 2018, the foundation moved to render assistance to persons who were affected by the Sickle Cell disease.
According to Beenie Man, the foundation was launched years ago, but had been on the back burner for a while. It has since revved up its activities, the results of which are now observed by the Standpipe residents.