[SOUTH FLORIDA] – Food For The Poor (FFTP) is responding to an anticipated urgent need for aid by airfreighting disaster relief kits to help families in reach of the erupting St. Vincent volcano La Soufrière.
Roughly 16,000 people live in the designated zone and require evacuation, according to news reports and in-country partners. Empty cruise ships were being dispatched to arrive in the Caribbean island on Friday to assist in the evacuation.
Disaster Relief Kits
The disaster relief kits contain disaster blankets, disaster hygiene kits and children’s activity kits to support the children affected by the volcanic eruption. The goods were provided by Matthew 25: Ministries, MAP International and Midwest Mission Distribution Center.
Aid in Barbados
FFTP also is sending funds to buy food in Barbados, which is expected to receive evacuees. Barbados is also working with its Coast Guard to send food to St. Vincent. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown will be responsible for distribution of aid to St. Vincent.
Shelters in St. Lucia
St. Lucia also is setting up shelters in case more evacuees need a safe place to go. A FFTP partner on that island said in a phone call today that she could see ashes and a cloud of smoke from where she sat. The volcano had not erupted since 1979.
Trinidad and Tobago, through FFTP partner Foundation for the Enhancement and Enrichment of Life (FEEL), are sending disaster blankets and hand sanitizer via its Coast Guard to Barbados to assist.
Make a Donation
“The islands in this area of the Caribbean are vulnerable to natural disasters, and they are facing one now with the eruption of this volcano,” Food For The Poor President/CEO Ed Raine said. “Our partners there have informed us of the needs and we are responding to them. All of those affected, the people on St. Vincent and those helping them, are in our prayers.”
To make a donation, go to www.foodforthepoor.org/vincent.
