St. Edward’s seniors Lucy Bergstrom and Catalina Pratt use their gifts as artists to decorate the shipping container with a scene from a painting set in the Bahamas. The container will soon house supplies purchased with the proceeds of Dress Down Day and leave for the Bahamas.
PHOTO: Monica Jennings
Parents and students at St. Edward’s School, Vero Beach, were invited to dress down on September 20 as part of their Hurricane Dorian relief efforts.
Students were asked to contribute a suggested donation of $5 cash to their homeroom/advisory/advocacy teacher before September 20.
They raised over $6300 for the Bahama Relief Fund. Part of the proceeds was used to purchase a shipping container, and the remainder went to the purchase of relief supplies that will fill the container.
“The Bartosch family, a Saint Edward’s family, has made several trips to Grand Bahama by boat, and they are still collecting supplies,” says Monica Jennings, Director of Marketing and Major Gifts Officer at St. Edward’s. “They are hugely generous, adventurous, and have truly wonderful hearts. ” Students, staff, and the community donated supplies that were delivered by the family.
If you would like to help with further relief efforts, please click here: Hopetown Fire and Rescue help page.
St. Nicholas Anglican Church in High Rock served as a distribution point for supplies from the parishioners at Blessed Redeemer. Baby wipes, hygiene items, canned goods, and water were among the supplies.
PHOTO: Charles Liverpool
Joan and Charles Liverpool and Claudine Newbold, parishioners at Church of the Blessed Redeemer, Palm Bay, have returned from the Grand Cay, Bahamas. “We flew to the Bahamas with 7,000 pounds of food,” explains Joan Liverpool. “We also took generators, tarps, and air mattresses donated by people in Florida and Atlanta.”
This effort is personal for all three. Newbold is from Nassau, Bahamas, and the Liverpools are part of a non-profit, Deskan Restoring Hope Through Compassion, Inc. They made several trips to the Bahamas before Dorian. “When we were asked if we could go help out, we prayed about it,” says Joan Liverpool. “After we prayed, we knew that we needed to go help these people.”
“The devastation is unbelievable,” says Newbold . “From a distance, everything looks calm. But, when you get closer, you realize that everything is gone!”
Joan Liverpool echoes her. “The water damage was tremendous. You walk into a church, and you’re standing in water. Nothing can be saved because the mold has moved in.”
From the outside, St. Nicholas Anglican Church looks like it made it through Dorian unscathed. When you step into the sanctuary, you step into puddles.
PHOTO: Charles Liverpool
The trio was in the Bahamas for five days. They made deliveries to Zion Baptist Church in Freeport and St. Nicholas and St. Michael’s Anglican Church in High Rock. “We used the churches as a distribution center for the supplies,” notes Newsom. “St. Nicholas is still underwater.”
Through Deskan, the Liverpools are sending a barge to Hope Town, one of the districts on the Abaco islands. “Capt. Joe Mazzarella is lending us his boat. We will pay for the fuel, of course. We have friends who are gathering supplies. The Hope Town Fire Dept. will distribute the supplies.”
Newbold is also heading up the Water Drive at Blessed Redeemer. “They never have enough clean water. The plan is to raise enough money to buy 1,000 cases of water and send it to the Bahamas.”
If you would like to help purchase bottled water, please make checks out to Church of the Blessed Redeemer, with the notation of Water Drive, and mail it to the church, which is at 1225 DeGroodt Road SW, Palm Bay, FL 32908.
The water was so high on Treasure Cay that there was no delineation between the water and the shore. There is no clean water or electricity.
PHOTO: Ken Ritter
Ken Ritter, Disaster Relief Coordinator at Church of the Holy Presence, Deland, has made four trips to the Bahamas. “I follow Deacon John Clark on Instagram,” he explains. “I saw his post on the 1600 MREs that he sent to the Bahamas, and knew that we needed to help them now.
Ritter went to the congregation to ask for donations and was amazed by the response. “The response was phenomenal!” He was able to distribute a pair of donated Satellite phones with unlimited minutes, a two-week supply of peanut butter, protein bars, water, and other non-perishables.
He flew over September 6 in a private plane. “We took the back seats out so that we could get more supplies on the plane.”
“When I got to Treasure Cay, I couldn’t believe the devastation,” he recalls. “It was chaos! There were 1,000 people at the airport.”
Ritter was looking for his young friend, Rodney Jean Baptiste, who was going to help him distribute supplies. “It took an hour for Rodney and his brother to find me. The pilot and I stood on the tarmac and waited. We were two of four Caucasians at the airport.”
The next scene nearly broke his heart. “My wife had packed a cooler with a rotisserie chicken from Publix and potato salad. I handed it to Rodney, who tore into it. He and his brother had not had food or drink for four days.”
“Treasure Cay and Cooper’s Cay are on their own,” he notes. “They are very small islands. The government won’t help them. This part of the Bahamas was hit the hardest.”
When Ritter returned to Deland on Sept. 9, he asked his church for more donations. “So many of the parishioners are poor, but it didn’t stop them. They handed me 20s and collected stuff.”
If you would like to help with the church’s Hurricane Relief Efforts, please go to www.holypresencedeland.com/donate/ to give online or mail a check to The Church of the Holy Presence,355 N. Kepler Rd., DeLand, FL 32724. Please note Hurricane Relief.