If you are thinking of reaching out to help the people of the Bahamas, please ensure you give to reputable organisations. Cash is always a useful option.... but if you prefer to do actual items here are some tips....
Please be aware that the landfill of the islands will already be very overwhelmed with the hurricane damaged rubbish, so please do not send your old unwanted stuff.... JUNK is not needed.
These are the sorts of things that the hurricane survivors need, that might be overlooked...
1. Hair ties
2. Combs and hair brushes
3. Toothbrushes & toothpaste. Soap.
4. Toilet paper
5. Razors for both men & women
6. Vitamins
7. Belts
8. Cleaning supplies, such as washing detergent, disinfectant, brooms, mops, paper towels
9. Mosquito repellent
10. Water filters
11. Reusable shopping bags (pls. avoid single-use plastic bags)
12. Baby products (formula, bottles, diapers, wipes)
13. Items for diabetics, vegetarians and vegans
14. Pet food
15. Bed linens
16. Towels
17. Feminine Hygiene products & condoms
18. First aid kits
19. New underwear (men, women, boys, girls)
Think first of what basic items you need the most in your daily life.
Here are the Top 4 reputable charities that I have found...
1.
According to my friend Angie-StMartin from Magic of the Caribbean, (who are an awesome resource by the way) says that Sumaritan's Purse were the first "AID" company on the ground in St.Maarten after Hurricane Irma... they were SO FAST to act to help the Bahamas too.... The day after the hurricane finally moved away from the Bahamas, a team of 16 staff members, including doctors and nurses were on a flight to set up a mobile hospital. A 40 bed facility equipped to help 100 patients a day was established. They now have 30 staff on the ground in the Bahamas, unloading in Nassau, and then using a small plane and helicopter to get access to the smaller islands which were devastated and still hard to access. (no airport).
Here is the link to Sumaritan's Purse website, where you can read more, watch their videos and DONATE. Click here.
2.
Hope Town Volunteer Fire & Rescue
These guys have been amazing at updating the status of things throughout the hurricane, and in the aftermath....yesterday they managed to get a Sat.Phone over to Hope Town to establish communications. They are working together on evacuations & immediate relief. They have had someone on the ground in FL coordinating and updating their FB page, which has been amazing. They are currently using the helicopter fly over footage to do damage assessments.... and are able to work out how many houses/buildings/boats/docks etc are damaged or ok on each island. I am not going to link to these video's as I would prefer to try to focus on the positives, but there are plenty to be found on FB or youtube.
This was one of their posts from 4th Sept.
Our first goal of establishing communication was achieved today. Synchronous communication was established today between HTVFR Stateside and HTVFR in Hopetown. Neil Hingle was able to drop a SAT phone and some supplies to the team on the island via helicopter. The communication channel is running on a schedule, and we are following the regularly scheduled community meetings on Hopetown.
Morale is up on the island---our people are resilient and motivated to keepthe spirit of Hopetown alive and functioning. There are many shifts and stations being manned on the island. The organization is absolutely stunning in the face of what all that they faced. They have set up schedules for eating, for taking care of people, and for preparing for rescue, relief, and recovery.
We are working on establishing our second goal tomorrow, which is to establish an evacuation of the elderly, young, and medical necessary individuals. We will be posting more about this plan, as we know that families will want to know the who, what, and where of these evacuations.
There were medical evacuations of critical cases today by helicopter, and the rest of the medical concerns are stable, at present.
Mike Hague wanted all to know that "our spirits are high and we are coming together to help and support each other."
More information will be shared tomorrow.
Good night and God Bless you all.
They are suggesting this as a way to help....
ABACO RELIEF
Organized by Neil Hingle
If anyone wants to donate goods (first aid kits,diapers, formula,wipes,tents,tarps, chainsaws,generators, flashlights, batteries,canned goods granola bars..etc.) please feel free to drop off, AMAZON, mail to
Hope Town specific;
Abaco Relief
HTVFR
2633 Lantana Road
Hangar 214
Lantana FL 33462
3.
Another organisation I am seeing a lot of is Head Knowles... started by 2 Bahamian girls (Lia Head and Gina Knowles) in 2015 to raise money and help Bahamians post Hurricane Joaquin. Again in 2016 they worked tirelessly to assist those devastated by Hurricane Matthew.. They have managed to raise over $4 million in relief funds to date.... and are now all systems go for Hurricane Dorian. They ahve a very simple website click here where you can choose to DONATE or they have an AMAZON shopping wish list..... how easy is that!!!
4.
Sandals Foundation is an organization that has been founded more than 30 years ago by the Sandals Resorts international group to give back to the local communities on the islands they are located on. Our resortwear collection is carried in their boutiques, so yesterday I received an email from them...
"The beautiful islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama in the Bahamas have been devastated by Hurricane Dorian. As their neighbors, the Sandal Foundation is seeking donations for the items noted in the attached to help with the recovery efforts.
We look forward to your partnership to assist with rebuilding lives.
Relief items may be dropped off at our Miami office or sent directly to key personnel in Bahamas. See the attached for further information."
They will be using their existing freight infrastructure to get donated goods to the people who most need them. Here is the information for their donation.... or click here to visit their website.
I will be running some fundraising events and making donations myself, but right now I wanted to put this blog post out there to help you make informed decisions about donations.
One love x