Geothermal companies donate to relief efforts

People affected by the 2013 Christmas Eve floods in St Vincent and the Grenadines have received help from some unlikely sources in the Barbados Light and Power Holdings (LPH), the Iceland based Reykjavik Geothermal (RG) and the Canadian based Emera Inc.{{more}}

Public relations coordinator Camile Crichton who is also chief executive officer of the local Professional Secretarial and Consultancy Services said the overseas businesses’ love affair with this country and its people began last year when a team visited to explore geothermal energy possibilities.

“So when they heard what had happened on Christmas Eve 2013 they decided to help and have so far given over EC$25,000 worth of assistance to St Vincent and the Grenadines,” said Crichton.

She said funds from the companies have supported three critical areas of need in the form of; 100 hospital grade bed sheets supplied to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH), school uniforms and books donated to 77 primary school students in North Leeward (Fitz Hughes, Chateaubelair, Spring Village and Rose Bank) and 50 hampers with food and hygiene supplies donated to elderly persons on the Leeward and Windward sides of the island.

The hampers were handed out over the last three weekends while students received their uniforms and school supplies in time for the beginning of the new school term.

Deputy Hospital Administrator at the MCMH Donna Bascombe collected the much need bed sheets on Tuesday January 21st during a short handing over ceremony at the PSCS conference room located in the Coreas building on Halifax Street.

“I want to extend profound gratitude for this effort not just for the gift of the sheets but also the effort in procuring them. I am also involved in buying hospital grade items so I am awed by the fact that they went through all this trouble to have the items on hand,” said Bascombe.

“We are a bit stressed because a lot of the sheets got damaged during the storm. A lot that were in storage, clean sheets they got muddied when we were flooded so now we are a bit stretched so we really welcome the effort and we really appreciate the fact that we have new quality sheets,” she added.

Meanwhile Crichton added, “LPH, Emera and Reykjavik Geothermal extend their condolences to those families who lost loved ones in the Christmas flooding and urge residents to be safe as recovery and rebuilding efforts get underway.”