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The Harvard Caribbean Club has raised nearly $1,500 in donations to provide aid for countries affected by Hurricane Melissa, after facing problems due to conflicts with GoFundMe’s policies about raising funds for Cuba and Haiti — countries with sanctions from the United States and United Nations, respectively.

Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm that made landfall in the Caribbean on Oct. 28, resulted in destruction so severe that Jamaica was declared a disaster zone by the state leadership on the same day. The storm stripped 2.8 million Jamaicans of electricity, and displaced more than 700,000 people after it hit Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane on Oct. 29.

Jasmine R. Andresol ’27, vice president of HCC, said the organization “wanted to raise money immediately.” They collaborated with Food For The Poor, a humanitarian organization that provides relief for poverty and hunger-stricken areas in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The reason why we collaborated with Food For The Poor is so we have the direct connection, and an understanding that the relief would go directly to families,” Andresol said. “That was one of our main missions: to make sure that the relief directly hit families.”

But they quickly hit roadblocks. GoFundMe removed HCC’s initial fundraiser account on Oct. 28 due to conflicts with the company’s terms of service, as well as “strictly enforced policies from the payments industry.”

In an email sent to HCC from GoFundMe, the account started by the club was removed from the site due to dealing with “activities with, in, or involving countries, regions, governments, persons, or entities that are subject to U.S. and other economic sanctions under applicable law.”

Cuba and Haiti, which were both hit hard by Hurricane Melissa, are currently both subject to sanctions from the U.S. and U.N. The U.N. Security Council enacted sanctions on Haiti in 2022 because of growing gang violence on the island. The sanctions include an arms-embargo, travel ban, and assets freeze. The U.S. has maintained an embargo against Cuba since 1960, preventing businesses and citizens from conducting trade with Cuban endeavors.

A new account created by Misael A. De Los Reyes ’26, HCC’s community service chair, restarted the fundraiser campaign without any references to Cuba or Haiti. As of Tuesday evening, the GoFundMe account has not faced similar issues.

“The fact that any sanctioned country cannot be fundraised for was deeply devastating to us, and something that we honestly didn’t agree with,” Andresol said in response to the actions taken by the organization. “We don't believe the people should be punished for actions of governmental organizations.”

GoFundMe did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fundraising efforts led by HCC have not been limited to Harvard alone. The club has had “various school partners” including Northeastern University, wrote Andresol. Northeastern University held a pageant to support the fundraiser, where attendees donated to HCC’s fundraiser to act as a ticket to the event.

—Staff writer Alexander W. Anoma can be reached at alexander.anoma@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AnomaAlexander.

—Staff writer Chantel A. De Jesus can be reached at chantel.dejesus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @c_a_dejesus.