Vincentian evacuees in shelters and private homes, the SVG Police Force, their National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), the hospital, and relief organisations in St Vincent are just some of the groups to have benefitted from a diverse set of goods and products from the Goddard Enterprises Ltd (GEL) family of companies following the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano there.

The team at Coreas Hazell – a subsidiary of GEL in St Vincent, led by CEO Joel Providence coordinated the massive relief effort with many of the other subsidiaries and the head office in Barbados, as they responded to the immediate needs of those affected by the eruption. To date they have collected and distributed over US$450,000 worth of disaster supplies.

Two ZNA pick-up trucks, one for the SVG Police Force and the other for NEMO were presented to the Commissioner of Police Colin John and the Director of NEMO Michelle Forbes, who expressed thanks to Coreas for the contribution to their respective organisations. She explained that the vehicles were not the first contribution from the company and thanked them for the several containers of bottled water, assorted groceries for displaced persons, as well as mattresses, buckets and shovels. Ms Forbes also spoke about Corea’s offer to assist NEMO by providing software and general support for inventory control and distribution.

CEO of Goddard Enterprises Anthony Ali, in expressing support for the people of St. Vincent, stated “A number of our employees would have been affected by the Soufriere volcano, so we had to do what we could for them and for the people of St. Vincent generally. In Barbados, we had the result of the ashfall here and that was bad enough. So we could only imagine what the people of St. Vincent are going through and we had to give what support that we can.”

Several other associated companies and overseas business partners also joined in the relief effort, helping with water tanks, personal care items, face masks, clothing and respirators.

The teams are now looking to analyse the best approach to help, as the country moves into the Recovery Phase.