HURRICANE DORIAN ABACO RELIEF: DONATIONS, RESOURCES, INFO, RADIO, & LINKS

SEP 6 UPDATE Since my original post focussing mainly on the rapidly increasing numbers of donation sites and their links, the true extent of the Hurricane Dorian catastrophe on central Abaco and outlying cays is gradually becoming clearer. Reports of localised looting are coming in. The situation is truly desperate and no one reading this will be unaware of the unfolding tragedy. Our thoughts must be with the bereaved and the injured; the missing; their families and friends; the frightened evacuees; those that have lost their homes, possessions, livelihoods; the courageous local people and relief teams.

This is a time when information is valuable, in particular as to the resources available, the urgent needs of the island and its cays, and the ways in which outsiders can help with this dire situation and with funding the recovery. Here are a few suggestions that I hope will be useful, and which will be further updated as the need arises.

LOCAL INFORMATION RESOURCES

The main resources are local / community Facebook groups, or more general Abaco-wide groups. All of them contain local reports and updates, photos, videos and requests for news of family, friends & communities. Events and news are fast-moving, so if you find a group you like, keep checking for up-to-date news, requests for advice or help etc. Simply entering a settlement name in FB search may take you direct to a community group.

ABACO COMMUNITY UPDATE

ABACO BULLETIN GROUP

ABACO BAHAMAS – LIVING ON ISLAND TIME

HOPE TOWN BULLETIN

LITTLE HOUSE BY THE FERRY Amanda Diedrick’s oustanding blog has a wealth of info & advice

THE ABACONIAN – Website

THE ABACONIAN – FB page

TRIBUNE242 – Website (also links to FB, T etc)

Radio link selection given below

I’ll review and edit this page daily. I’ll look out for additional fundraisers, but please contact me with any others that you would like to see included, giving the link to it. You can do this by commenting here; via DM on my Rolling Harbour FB page; or email for those that have it.

ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO

NB I am not making personal recommendations here, except in the case of the Delphi Relief Fund and Caroline’s parrot fundraiser, where I have personal connections and concerns. Please check these pages for yourself before you decide to donate

✚ SEP 6 CLICK LOGO FOR CAUTION NEEDED WHEN YOU CHOOSE YOUR DONATION FUND

RELIEF DONATION SITES

HEADKNOWLES An organization formed in 2015 by Bahamians Lia Head-Rigby and Gina Knowles to provide hurricane relief to the residents of the south and central Bahamas after the devastation of Hurricane Joaquin. Since then, Headknowles provided relief after Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.

You can find out more about the invaluable work of this organization via this link to Amanda Diedrick’s website LITTLE HOUSE BY THE FERRY You will also find there regularly updated information about the present crisis.

DONATIONS                HeadKnowles GO FUND ME page

UPDATES & INFO        Facebook group page

HURRICANE RELIEF FOR ELBOW CAY Fundraiser by Matt Winslow.

Please note that this fund, now exceeding $400K of a (raised) target of $500K will have a $ for $ fund match from a private foundation

HOPE TOWN VOLUNTEER FIRE & RESCUE HURRICANE RELIEF  Local Paypal funding

NB  Sep 6 NEW LINK

MESSAGE READS “response to our fundraising efforts has been overwhelming – literally! Your generosity has overtaxed our PayPal account and we are working to find more effective and efficient ways to collect donations. Please hold off on donations through PayPal at this time. We will be providing new funding mechanisms in the next few days. Thank you all for your generosity!!’

Errol Thurston Bahamas Abaco Hurricane Relief Fund  Fundraiser by Errol Thurston 

HOPE 4 HOPE TOWN – ABACO ISLANDS RELIEF FUND Fundraiser by Patrick Davis 

Abaco Strong Hurricane Relief Fund  Fundraiser by Dave Meldeau 

Abaco Parrot post Dorian Food Supplementation Fundraiser by Caroline Stahala 

For the Love of Abaco – Hurricane Relief Fundraiser by Lou Lentine 

Hurricane Dorian Relief Fund for Abaco Fundraiser by Al Lee

Dorian Relief Effort – Bahamas Abaco Islands TCCF Fundraiser by Omar Maissen 

Hurricane Dorian Relief Fund Abacos Fundraiser by Heidi Marie Hill 

MAINSTREAM INTERNATIONAL NGOs

DIRECT RELIEF  Hurricane Dorian Relief

SEP 5: “Luíz David Rodriguez, the programme manager for Direct Relief, an NGO, said the island’s main health clinic, near Marsh Harbour, was being overwhelmed with hundreds of people waiting to be treated”

 GlobalGiving Disaster Recovery Network Hurricane Dorian Relief Fund

RADIO GARDEN – highly recommended for online or as App – a simple world-wide resource. The link is set take you direct to Guardian Talk Radio. You’ll see other Bahamas stations listed. Every green dot represents a radio station. The globe rotates. You can pinpoint a chosen station anywhere in the world in seconds

ZNS BAHAMAS – varied news formats with rolling updates

ZNS RADIO – news and plenty of online links

TUNE IN BAHAMAS – Stream Radio – more than a dozen stations – App available

LIVE ONLINE BAHAMAS – Stream Radio  – Lots of stations – can headline favourites

CAUTION FOR DONORS

• Be on guard for a surge of solicitations related to any highly publicized crisis. There will be fraudulent charity solicitations, some involving websites and email links attempting to steal your credit card information for identity theft or insert malware on your computer.
• Unknown Senders. Do not respond to, or click on any attachments, links or pictures included in, emails or text messages received from unknown senders.
• Fake Victims. Social media will include many fake victims. Do not donate to unknown individuals purporting to need aid that post on Facebook, GoFundMe, etc. They may be fraudsters, and even if legitimate victims, they may receive an unfairly large amount of aid.
• Scamming. Scammers may try to use copy-cat names similar to those of well-known charities. Avoid name confusion by independently verifying that the charity is legitimate before you donate. Reputable charities will not pressure you to give immediately.
• Third-party ‘enablers’. Beware of individuals or others claiming to be third party intermediaries for charities or those in need.
• Give directly only to the charities that you are confident are legitimate and recognized for providing humanitarian relief on a specific local and / or at international level

CREDITS

Amanda Diedrick / Little House by the Ferry for taking a big lead in collecting and spreading information and advice including the HeadKnowles information shown here

Matthew McCoy for additional suggestions

Sundry online posters of clips and snips

PHOTO CREDIT: Gerlinde Taurer – Bahama Yellowthroat (endemic to the Bahamas)

Elbow Reef Lighthouse still standing where Hurricane Dorian made landfall (NYT)