Rotary BVI Response to Haiti Earthquake

The day after the Haiti earthquake, Rotary Clubs in the BVI began mobilizing. From the beginning our focus had been on raising funds as our District Chair of Haiti Task Force had prioritised the importance of money at this stage.   

ADG Vance Lewis announced on Thursday February 04, at the weekly luncheon of the Rotary Club of Tortola that with the Clubs combined efforts, we had raised US$265,000 in pledges and collection of these pledges was still ongoing.

-           The Rotary Clubs of Tortola, Road Town and Sunrise immediately donating/pledging a combined US$38,000 in total from their own community / disaster funds to the Rotary Haiti Disaster Fund (RHDF).

-           Holding of a telethon with the assistance of a local phone company and several local TV and radio stations on Monday, 18 January. In just over 3 hours we raised the RHDF to US$180,000. The family of Rotary (includes Rotaract and Interact) all played support roles for this event. We also had support from the local Haitian Association in this endeavour.

-           Early in the evening in advance of the telethon, a 'bucket brigade' was posted around town to collect donations from motorists. In excess of US$8,500 was raised in a few hours.

-           Last September, the Rotary Clubs in BVI gave dictionaries to all Class 3 students in the territory. The Class 3 of Anegada School, (located on tiny Anegada island with a population of less than 200 people), went door-to-door in their town, called The Settlement, and raised some US$1,200 and pledged this to the RHDF.

-           A BVI-based international law firm with 180 staff worldwide invited staff to donate to the Rotary fund via payroll deduction and raised in excess of US$25,000 for the RHDF.

-           The Clubs are partnering with a local restaurant to host a fundraising dinner on the island of Virgin Gorda.

-           The Rotary Family has partnered with a local movie theatre to hold fund-raising movie screenings at selected times on Tortola.

-           Rotaract Club of Tortola is working with a local DJ to raise funds to be added to the RHDF.

The Clubs continue to fundraise using innovative means. E.g. The earthquake relief effort has been identified as a major beneficiary of the Rotary Club of Tortola's (RCT) annual major fundraising dinner and auction scheduled to be held towards the end of February. (This has been perennially RCT's largest fundraiser).

In additionto fundraising, the Rotary Clubs of the BVI have been coordinating relief flights into Haiti with assistance from the District. As of this writing, 3 relief flights from BVI have been made. Among the items/persons delivered:

-           4 doctors including 2 surgeons (one of whom is a Rotarian)

-           Portable x-ray machine

-           Thousands of  pounds of medical supplies

-           Surgical supplies

-           Food

-           Tents and sleeping bags

The above relief supplies have been donated by businesses, private clinics and in some cases the BVI Government.

As we have now used up most of the medical supplies in the BVI, and there still being huge demand in Haiti, we recently arranged for the purchase from Dominican Republic and delivery to Haiti, US$10,000 (a full plane load) of medical supplies. This followed an urgent request from the Doctors on the ground in Haiti.

Planes and pilots have been provided by private individuals, charter companies and individual Rotarians. The Rotary family has provided fuel for flights. Rotarians have been pivotal organizers and we have been supported in an overwhelming manner by the community. It is clear that the Rotary name inspires confidence.

Our success demonstrates what can be achieved when, especially in a situation of crisis the family of Rotary work together . It has been a proud time for Rotary in the BVI as we are all inspired to work together to bring help to our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Once again, one of the cornerstones of being a Rotarian 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things' has been proven true.