Many pitch in for ’cane relief

It’s a gross understatement to say the 2017 hurricane season is testing the resolve of Caribbean people, their governments and their institutions, coping with a lack of running water, electricity, passable roads and other damage. This season has sparked critical conversations about long-term considerations, such as prepping for the effects of global climate change and stricter building standards, but the immediate focus is on the relief efforts for victims of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Over the coming months, I’ll detail aid initiatives such as these:

Dominicans in N.Y. help out

Hurricane Maria’s immense damage to Dominica is still being assessed, but the New York-based Dominica-American Relief and Development Association has set up a gofundme page, www.gofundme.com/dominica-hurricane-maria-relief, for monetary contributions.

Individuals and organizations can also contribute today, between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., at St. Lucia House, 438 E. 49th St. in Brooklyn, or JAPS Auto Clinic, 770 South Columbus Ave. in Mount Vernon, in accordance with the New York Consulate for the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Details on the needed, Dominica government-approved supplies can be found on the website of DARDA, which has also setup a wish list on Amazon.com “as a convenient way for concerned individuals to purchase relief items that have been requested by officials in Dominica.”

Visit the website at www.darda.org. The wish list of supplies on Amazon.com can be found at http://bit.ly/reliefwishlist.

Barbuda relief efforts

Members of the 83-year-old New Yorkbased Antigua and Barbuda Progressive Society, which has provided charitable assistance to their homeland since its inception, is aiding the disaster relief effort for hurricane-battered Barbuda.

In light of the damage on Barbuda, ABPS officials vowed to “continue the legacy of giving back.”

“It is very important that ABPS keep providing assistance to communities here in the diaspora and in Antigua and Barbuda,” said president Mona Wyre Manigo, asking for contributions to her group’s hurricane relief effort, by sending emails to contact@abpsociety.org to get details. Also visit the group’s website: www.abpsociety.org.

Stations tune in for donations

Many in New York’s Caribbean diaspora are getting behind “The Caribbean Day of Giving” — a daylong New York area radiothon on WVIP radio (93.5-FM) and other stations. It is planned and being organized for Oct. 7 to help get needed relief supplies to storm victims.

The radiothon — which is still open for tristate area radio stations to participate in — will feature interviews, music and updates from affected countries offer listeners to opportunity to donate funds and in-kind goods.

Donations — made to the Caribbean Tourism Organization Relief Fund — benefit Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the official body coordinating relief efforts for the hurricane-affected Caribbean countries.

“This is an excellent opportunity for all of us in the diaspora to come together to help these countries severely impacted by these hurricanes as well as to demonstrate the collective will and power of our Caribbean Diaspora community,” said Akelia Lawrence-Maitland, a Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board Member to the Northeast USA and part of the Caribbean Diaspora Disaster Relief Coalition, which is organizing the radio event. For information visit www.caribbeandayofgiving.com.