(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – The community of Spanish Wells was buzzing on Tuesday, October 6th, with individuals continuously dropping off personal donations, as well as truckloads of donated supplies, which were sorted and packaged, being loaded on to the MV Atlantic Lady anchored at the Spanish Wells dock, with plans for the local vessel to travel directly to San Salvador and Rum Cay on Wednesday, October 7th, 2015. Captain Mario Pinder shared that the planned run to San Salvador and Rum Cay to distribute food, emergency supplies and water would commence shortly after midday on Wednesday – with an estimated time of arrival 22 hours later, during the mid-morning on Thursday, October 8th. “We don’t even know if we have a dock to tie up to [there]” remarked the Captain who was determined to undertake the relief trip to releave any suffering they could. “We found there is a big demand for water, some people down there haven’t had water for two days” he added.
On Monday, October 5th, the Spanish Wells community sent a boatload of initial supplies on the MV ‘First One’ to hurricane Joaquin victims in Long Island.
Photo left: Young man helps to pack the hole of the boat with well stocked care packages for the victims in San Salvador and Rum Cay
According to Mr. Robert Roberts, President of the Spanish Wells Fishing Association, hurricane relief efforts in Spanish Wells consisted of several groups working in collaboration with each other, including four of the local churches, the Care Center – spearheaded by Frank Perry, as well as the Fishermen’s Fest organization.
Mr. Donald Sweeting, a coordinator with the local Spanish Wells churches relief effort (People’s Church, Gospel Chapel, Methodist Church, and Nation Baptist) revealed that approximately $35,000 had been raised on the weekend by members of the local churches, and more than $45,000 in donations made to Food Fair (the local grocery store) for groceries. “That’s just in Spanish Wells, and doesn’t include what people from the United States will be sending to us to distribute for them,” said Mr. Sweeting. He shared that between Monday and Tuesday morning 1,420 bags of food and supplies had been locally prepared to ship out and distribute, saying, “We’ve had volunteers that have been packing bags all day yesterday and all day today, until we ran out of money. If we had more money, we would have continued packing!”
Each bag contained essentials like, tuna, corned beef, toilet paper, paper towels, sardines, baked beans, soups, vegetables, rice and more. The fishing vessels transporting the relief items from Spanish Wells were also said to be fully equipped with reverse osmosis systems, which would be used to supplement the supplies of fresh water included in the shipments. Mr. Sweeting also added that significant donations of supplies from the North Eleuthera Shopping Center in The Bluff had also been sent to Spanish Wells for direct shipment to hurricane victims.
Kelly Underwood, a community volunteer in the Spanish Wells effort, also shared that local organizations had been in contact with the President of Sysco, one of the largest food distributors in the US, who had agreed to donate a container filled with supplies for San Salvador, which was on its way from Fort Lauderdale directly to the hurricane victims in need. Monique Pinder, Accounts Manager at Food Fair, explained that all hurricane relief purchases were given a 20% discount, in addition to direct donations made by Food Fair, as well as the pharmacy, which donated a significant number of medicinal supplies. She added, “After hurricane Andrew, we know what it feels like to have no roof, to have nothing, no job and to need everything – we lost fishing boats and didn’t have power for three months, so we know what it feels like.”
Photo right: This youngster, following the example of his elders, toted his sack to the boat for delivery to San Salvador and Rum Cay
Mr. Robert Roberts commented that relief efforts by the Spanish Wells community would continue past the initial emergency supplies stage, saying, “It’s an ongoing effort. We don’t want to lose sight of that.” He explained that funds toward the longer term assistance were also being donated through the non-profit Fishermen’s Fest, which would go towards those needs as they came to light, which he shared would likely be building supplies. He added that several pallets of other essentials like propane tanks, mosquito repellent and the like were also brought out of Nassau to go down on the boat on Wednesday to San Salvador and Rum Cay. “People have been generous,” stated Mr. Roberts. He shared that tens of thousands had already been donated within the short time since the passing of hurricane Joaquin, and that people from the United States and New Providence were still calling to find out how they could contribute and get supplies directly to the hurricane victims in need.
At the Samuel Guy Pinder All Age School on the island, children were not left out of the relief effort, but asked to bring in prepacked ziploc bags with toiletries and personal care items, which they intended to add to the donated items headed south.
Top: Pallets of fresh water being loaded on the MV Atlantic Lady by Robert Roberts and his team. Bottom left: A volunteer with the Spanish Wells churches hurricane relief efforts helps to load hundreds of individually prepared care packages onto the vessel headed to San Salvador and Rum Cay. Bottom right: The grade four class at the Samuel Guy Pinder All Age School with their teacher Ms. Jones, showcasing the ziploc care bags being brought to school by students at the school for families hit hard by hurricane Joaquin.
