TENS of thousands of pounds of supplies donated for the islands ravaged by Hurricane Joaquin will be on their way to those most needing them today thanks to a donation by ‘Save The Bays’ to fund cargo flights.
Today, and over the Bank Holiday weekend, HeadKnowles expects to fly as much as possible of the 103,000 pounds of donated supplies to Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Island and San Salvador. “We are seriously trying to figure out how we can get to Mayaguana as well because they need assistance there,” Krystynia Lee d’Arville, the PR Director of the HeadKnowles relief organisation, told The Tribune last night.
“Right now I have a heavily pregnant warehouse and I don’t know whether it’s going to be twins or triplets,” she said, describing the overwhelming response of the public to calls for help. “I have a 46,000 square feet state-of-the-art warehouse at Furniture Plus and we are at a capacity where this is now overlapping with my business needs. I really need planes in the air and boats on the water – I could use three, four, five and six a day,” she said. The Save The Bays intervention yesterday was perfectly timed.
Mrs d’Arville estimated that HeadKnowles had received at least 150,000lbs of donated supplies over the past week “simply going by the sheer numbers of trucks” which approximated in monetary value, she thought, to “no less than $200,000”.
“When we started it never occurred to us that it would get to those numbers, we never expected to get that large,” she said. “What started initially as something between two women, then four women, in a social group has become an intranational drive.” She said the overwhelming response from the public had been “quite humbling” and left her “quite speechless”.
The volume of donations dramatically increased since Monday morning after the launch of S.O.S. (Save Our South) initiative by The Tribune Media Group. The goal is to raise $500,000 in cash and in kind donations to purchase essential supplies for the storm-ravaged southern islands.
Mrs d’Arville was in a “war room” meeting last night at the distribution centre with HeadKnowles co-founders Lia Head Rigby and Gina Knowles, given the need to review the logistical challenges raised by the outpouring of care. She described those difficulties as “a logistical Swiss clock that is nowhere near a Swiss clock” but promised that they would not derail the relief efforts.
She said the response from people in the islands to supplies arriving had been humbling. “People are so thankful and grateful and kind, polite and humble,” she said.
Fred Smith, QC, immediate past chairman of Save the Bays, said last night: “Given the urgent, critical cry for assistance from The Tribune Media Group I am personally acutely aware of the traumas and humanitarian needs that the people of the Family Islands face in this devastation. Save The Bays is very much involved in the relief effort and is therefore delighted to donate $30,000 for the DC3s to deliver these much needed supplies.”
Robert Carron, the president of The Tribune Media Group said: “The response to our fundraising drive has been truly overwhelming. In the last four days Bahamians from all walks of life have donated over 103,000lbs of badly needed supplies to those in need – and it keeps arriving. According to HeadKnowles, Furniture Plus’ distribution centre is filled to capacity. We initially were delivering supplies through the generosity of Bahamasair’s 737-500 jet, thanks to the support of Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Mr Leslie Miller, Mr Henry Woods and his team at Bahamasair. However, the jet could not get into the southern islands; and, the Dash-8’s had to go back into regular service this morning.
“We have the vitally needed supplies, but are completely unable to move such a vast volume of cargo to their destinations. Crooked Island is days away by boat and the UK Navy is pleading for us to start deliveries. We needed help to fund the movement of these urgent items via DC-3 cargo aircraft from the USA. Save The Bays has saved the day!” said Mr Carron.
“On behalf of HeadKnowles, all the other charities and, especially the readers, listeners and viewers of Tribune Media Group, we just want to say Thank You for your outpouring of support to our fellow Bahamians,” he said.
Vanessa Haley-Benjamin, the CEO of Save the Bays, said to help the environmental group’s effort, it had contacted international organisations seeking assistance and had established partnerships to provide the much needed relief to the southern islands.
Save The Bays has formed an official partnership with Yacht Global Aid (YAG), which orchestrates the delivery of disaster relief, development and conservation aid to coastal communities worldwide. “They will be sending over a flotilla of five yachts, each with the capability to convert contaminated water to fresh, drinkable and usable water. Arrivals start as early as October 10th,” Ms Haley-Benjamin said. “Additionally, a vessel will be delivering much needed items to Nassau and we have been asked to oversee the distribution to the southern islands that mostly need them. We have partnered with RBDF and the US Embassy to assist.”
Save The Bays has also arranged to procure heavily discounted solar lanterns from MCPOwered and a conditional promise from Carmanah to provide $25,000 in portable solar chargers.
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