Tulloch: Clerene Campbell, Philanthropist 

Profile – Clerene Elaine Campbell: Philanthropist

by David Tulloch

There are numerous instances where ordinary people do extraordinary things, but their actions remain obscure, and they are never rewarded for their efforts. Elaine Campbell is one of those people. She is without question an unsung heroine; “a woman who has made a positive impact on someone else or a community through her actions or words.” Elaine has dedicated her time and energy to helping others and inspires the people around her because of it. Yet she is unsung because she has not sought acknowledgment. She says that when she was about 9 years old, she told her friends that if she ever went abroad, she would find a way to help as many people as she could. “What I said as a child came back to haunt me”.

Elaine immigrated from Jamaica in 1967 and joined her fiancé Elisha (Luke) Campbell, a noted Ottawa Chef. She immediately started to work, and the couple was married shortly thereafter.  She then started helping family members in Jamaica and soon expanded her assistance to others who she determined to be in need. As the years went by, and as more and more needs became evident, she ramped up her aid by gathering anything that is usable, wearable, and edible, packaging them into large containers, and shipping them to Jamaica on her own dime. Then she travels to Jamaica, processes her consignment through customs, and distributes items from a make-shift warehouse in Runaway Bay where she grew up.  She has been doing this for 18 years. One of her major obstacles was the escalating costs of duties and customs fees.  But she circumvented this by registering a charitable organization that enabled her to accept donations of many of the items that she needs.

Elaine’s garage, a large shed, and her entire living room are stacked ceiling-high with boxes, barrels, and large sacks all full of items; wheelchairs; bicycles; clothing; footwear, and about $4000-$5,000 of food products that she purchased with her own money. Then she engages a shipper with a ¾-ton truck to route her consignment of goods to Jamaica. Her motto: “If you can use it, eat it or wear it, it should never be in the garbage”.

In 2004 she embarked on a one-woman mission to help the less fortunate in Jamaica by providing those in need with some of the necessities of life. Elaine understood that Canada, the country that adopted her over 50 years ago, is a nation of plenty where the things that people discard are treasures to those in need in many other countries around the world. She knew first-hand the dire needs in many of the local communities on the Island of Jamaica.

She is now retired, but she continues to work casually “to support this cause” which extends beyond providing material needs to individuals and families who are in dire straights. She also provides financial support to those that she considers being destitute. She “adopted” a single-parent family in 2005 that needed a place to live, paid their rent for several years, and paid the training fees for the mother so that she could equip herself to better provide for her family. Then she paid the school fees for one of her children who successfully completed her schooling. Her charitable deeds extend well beyond this example.

The cargo for her next shipment, a minimum of 14,000 pounds of products, at approximately $5,000 in shipping costs is just about ready to leave Ottawa. She will travel to Jamaica to receive the goods and to supervise the distribution process. And once she arrives, the real work begins. Elaine will process the consignment through customs and shuttle it to the distribution centre. Then, with help from her brother, she hands out pre-packaged bags to those in need. People will arrive from as far away as Montego Bay and beyond. And although she does not promote her arrival the word spreads like wildfire and people show up each day in increasing numbers. Some of her “clients” who arrive from far distances are only able to pay their way to get there. But they know that Elaine will finance their return trip because that’s precisely what she does. It is also not unusual for her to run out of food items at some point during the five-week period. When this happens, she replenishes her inventory with local purchases to ensure that the needs of all of her “clients” have been met. And then she returns to Ottawa to begin the process for the next round.

Elaine is very grateful to all those who have donated items to make this possible and she is especially thankful to her husband Elisha for his unwavering support throughout the years.

Dave Tulloch was born in Jamaica. He immigrated to Canada in 1970 to pursue post-secondary education. He earned a diploma in electronics engineering technology from Algonquin College, a Bachelor of Admin and Bachelor of Commerce (Hon) from the University of Ottawa, and a Master of Business Administration from Concordia University. He has an extensive career in information technology and in IT consulting with Systemhouse, KPMG, and Oracle Corporation where he retired as a director. Dave taught IT and business courses at CEGEP (Hull) and tutored at the Wake Tech College in North Carolina.  He wrote articles for the Ottawa Spectrum publication that focused on Ottawa’s Visible Minorities community and has written a book documenting the life stories of early Caribbean Immigrants to Ottawa, scheduled for publication later this year. He can be contacted via email: [email protected]