CARE Foundation founder and President Dr. Terrence Drew (second right) with members of the foundation. Photo courtesy of CARE Foundation.
ST. EUSTATIUS--A twenty-foot container left the island of St. Kitts onboard the sea vessel Tropic Unity on Tuesday, April 13, with seven pallets of water destined for volcano-ravaged St. Vincent.
The water was obtained by Statians who came together and raised funds to aid St. Vincent. The relief was coordinated by Compassionate Action for Reach and Empower (CARE) Foundation. The water was purchased in St. Kitts due to the logistics of transferring items to St. Vincent at this time.
The donation drive was set up as an effort to help the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines who are suffering from volcanic eruptions of La Soufrière in St. Vincent. The volcanic ash is causing pollution issues with the water supply and Statians and the foundation wanted to offer support.
Charles Woodley, who is involved with the donation drive, said many Statia residents had come together in a very short span of time and put the money together to purchase the water.
Care Foundation founder and President Dr. Terrence Drew, an internist, and Woodley coordinated the initiative. When Drew was a child he visited Statia as part of an exchange programme organised by the Lions Club to give less-fortunate children an opportunity to take a vacation from home. Drew and Woodley formed a friendship that has lasted more than 30 years.
Woodley said that Gail Ann Guy-Cupid of the St. Kitts National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had been instrumental in helping them arrange the transfer of the container to St. Vincent. The pallets will be delivered to the care of Diamond Deliverance Assembly. Getting the water from St. Kitts to St. Vincent was a collaborative effort of Care Foundation and NEMA.
Another shipment of a 40-foot container from Trinidad that will contain water and other essential items desperately needed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is currently being worked on.
The foundation plans to continue its drive and is soliciting donations of US $12 per person for one case of water. Donations can be sent to Windward Islands Bank account number 81888105. Persons can get in contact with the donation drive by calling tel. (599)318-4712.
