BY VANESSA C ROLLE,Guardian Staff Reporter
Answering a most urgent call for help by the Bahamas Red Cross Society, the United States Embassy got the ball rolling with a donation of relief supplies to the organisation yesterday.
"As you know, on Saturday, we were crying out to the public to please come forward and give us a helping hand. We need everything that we can get right now. Up to now we still don't know what we are going to be facing in terms of requirements, particularly in the Family Islands," said Edward Fitzgerald, Vice President of the organisation.
"We are quite overwhelmed now that things are beginning to happen, and we look forward to seeing a lot more of this over the next few days. This is the very first donation. We are so pleased, and we think others will follow suit," he said.
He said that the newly appointed US Ambassador John Rood "kindly consented" to assist the organisation. "He demonstrated that by the first plane- load of goods you see here. There is another aircraft coming at 7:00 p.m., and his staff has so graciously donated funds to us."
The supplies included plastic sheeting for the construction of temporary shelters or roof repairs, disaster hygiene kits, (soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, etc); plastic water containers; and water bladder kits for the storage of drinking.
The donation was made through the Office of the U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), which is part of the U.S. Agency for International Development. It is responsible for providing humanitarian assistance in response to international crisis.
The staff at the embassy also donated over $1,000 to the charitable organisation. US citizens interested in making donations can reach The Bahamas Red Cross Society at 1-242-323-7370.
According to Ambassador Rood, the Red Cross could expect more donations once the embassy office re-opens.
"But once we get back to work, I think that number is gonna continue to grow," he told the Guardian in an interview on Monday. "It was quite a team-building exercise for our staff, spending three days in the hotel together, but there is a great team here in place. Not only NEMA, but the people from the United States who coordinate disaster response. They had a great working relationship. This is part of that relationship," he said referring to the donation made.
"The Prime Minister on the phone last night asked me if we would be there to help, and I said yes, Mr. Prime Minister, we would be here. This is an example of us responding," he said, noting that he also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell to discuss what was needed.
"We are just pleased as good neighbours that we could be of assistance. My goal was just trying to cut through some of the US government red-tape and speed things up a little bit. And sometimes there is a little bit of red-tape, but we got through it. We are pleased that we could get this here and we're also pleased that we could work with the Bahamian Red Cross Society because we feel that they can deliver it to who needs it," said Mr Rood. He pressed for more people and organisations to come forward with financial donations.
President of the Bahamas Red Cross Gerald Sawyer expressed his gratitude to Ambassador and the Us Government for their charity.
"This is by far the biggest hurricane that has really affect the majority of the islands in this country. So again I would like to reiterate what the ambassador said. We would much more appreciate receiving cash. Then we would know exactly what to buy. If persons send us a lot of products then we might only get a lot of one product. We will still have a problem distributing. So if persons can lean towards sending us cash, we would much more appreciate that," he said.
"For the record, the good majority of these products will be shipped to Grand Bahama. Others we're holding here to be shipped to the other islands. But we know that Grand Bahama and Abaco have been extensively damaged. So our concentration is on those islands and then the islands that are deep south. So as soon as these products come in, and as soon as the assessment team has finished their assessment between today and tomorrow, we will ship these products," he said.
All donations should be delivered or shipped directly to the Red Cross on John F. Kennedy Drive and will be acknowledged by the Red Cross.
Phone numbers are 323-7370/3, the fax 323-7404, E-mail redcross@bahamas.net.bs, and P.O. Box N-8331, Nassau, The Bahamas.
BY VANESSA C ROLLE,Guardian Staff Reporter
Answering a most urgent call for help by the Bahamas Red Cross Society, the United States Embassy got the ball rolling with a donation of relief supplies to the organisation yesterday.
"As you know, on Saturday, we were crying out to the public to please come forward and give us a helping hand. We need everything that we can get right now. Up to now we still don't know what we are going to be facing in terms of requirements, particularly in the Family Islands," said Edward Fitzgerald, Vice President of the organisation.
"We are quite overwhelmed now that things are beginning to happen, and we look forward to seeing a lot more of this over the next few days. This is the very first donation. We are so pleased, and we think others will follow suit," he said.
He said that the newly appointed US Ambassador John Rood "kindly consented" to assist the organisation. "He demonstrated that by the first plane- load of goods you see here. There is another aircraft coming at 7:00 p.m., and his staff has so graciously donated funds to us."
The supplies included plastic sheeting for the construction of temporary shelters or roof repairs, disaster hygiene kits, (soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, etc); plastic water containers; and water bladder kits for the storage of drinking.
The donation was made through the Office of the U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), which is part of the U.S. Agency for International Development. It is responsible for providing humanitarian assistance in response to international crisis.
The staff at the embassy also donated over $1,000 to the charitable organisation. US citizens interested in making donations can reach The Bahamas Red Cross Society at 1-242-323-7370.
According to Ambassador Rood, the Red Cross could expect more donations once the embassy office re-opens.
"But once we get back to work, I think that number is gonna continue to grow," he told the Guardian in an interview on Monday. "It was quite a team-building exercise for our staff, spending three days in the hotel together, but there is a great team here in place. Not only NEMA, but the people from the United States who coordinate disaster response. They had a great working relationship. This is part of that relationship," he said referring to the donation made.
"The Prime Minister on the phone last night asked me if we would be there to help, and I said yes, Mr. Prime Minister, we would be here. This is an example of us responding," he said, noting that he also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell to discuss what was needed.
"We are just pleased as good neighbours that we could be of assistance. My goal was just trying to cut through some of the US government red-tape and speed things up a little bit. And sometimes there is a little bit of red-tape, but we got through it. We are pleased that we could get this here and we're also pleased that we could work with the Bahamian Red Cross Society because we feel that they can deliver it to who needs it," said Mr Rood. He pressed for more people and organisations to come forward with financial donations.
President of the Bahamas Red Cross Gerald Sawyer expressed his gratitude to Ambassador and the Us Government for their charity.
"This is by far the biggest hurricane that has really affect the majority of the islands in this country. So again I would like to reiterate what the ambassador said. We would much more appreciate receiving cash. Then we would know exactly what to buy. If persons send us a lot of products then we might only get a lot of one product. We will still have a problem distributing. So if persons can lean towards sending us cash, we would much more appreciate that," he said.
"For the record, the good majority of these products will be shipped to Grand Bahama. Others we're holding here to be shipped to the other islands. But we know that Grand Bahama and Abaco have been extensively damaged. So our concentration is on those islands and then the islands that are deep south. So as soon as these products come in, and as soon as the assessment team has finished their assessment between today and tomorrow, we will ship these products," he said.
All donations should be delivered or shipped directly to the Red Cross on John F. Kennedy Drive and will be acknowledged by the Red Cross.
Phone numbers are 323-7370/3, the fax 323-7404, E-mail redcross@bahamas.net.bs, and P.O. Box N-8331, Nassau, The Bahamas.
