St. Croix, USVI, Hurricane Relief Fund

12/17/2017

The Women’s Coalition sends a message of thanks and gratitude to everyone who donated.

I was able to help with the distribution of some care packages last week on the island of St. Croix and I am struck by the gracious spirit of those whose lives have been changed by Hurricane Maria. Thank you for donating!

11/05/2017

Thanks to everyone who has donated! I’ll be sending more supplies next week and the first week in December. There is still a great need for basic items and 90% of the island is still without power. Please consider donating. The “Thank You Dinner” to donors with Olasee Davis was wonderful, and the vegan food delicious. Thanks to all who donated and helped prepare the feast!

10/25/2017

The Women's Coalition of St. Croix will be receiving several boxes of needed supplies on Friday. Thank you for the donations that have made this possible. Supplies include toiletries, baby items, first aid items, flashlights, lanterns, headlamps, and batteries. Thank you Professor Olasee Davis for picking up the shipment when it arrives on St. Croix and delivering it to the Coalition. Included are items for a lovely woman, Rose, who is rebuilding her life and business. Donations are still being taken, and every penny donated will go directly to sending much-needed items to people on the island of St. Croix.

10/18/2017

Michael Alfred Krug

10/16/2017

Professor Olasee Davis from the University of the Virgin Islands will be speaking at Winona State University. Hope you can attend!

10/12/2017

The first Pantry box arrived yesterday and was distributed today. Many thank you's have been received. Friday, two more boxes will ship with supplies requested by the Women's Coalition of St. Croix. I am so grateful for the donations that have funded these supplies. Professor Olasee Davis from the University of the Virgin Islands will be at Winona State University on November 6 & 7 to talk about colonialism's impact on the Caribbean and on the hurricane relief efforts. If you have donated, you are invited to dinner at my house with Olasee on Saturday, November 4. I'll be reaching out, or feel free to message me ❤️

10/03/2017

Sent the first box of supplies to St. Croix via Tropical Shipping today! Much needed toiletries, food staples, batteries and flashlights should arrive later this week.

Packing next box using donations to the fund! Thank you all who donated. Sending headlamps, more batteries, toiletries, and food staples. Miss Rose, a dear friend from St. Croix, is in need of these supplies and sends her thanks to you all. Much love!

09/30/2017

It's hard to look through these photos of the aftermath of Maria on St. Croix, but everyone I know from this island is focused on rebuilding their homes and businesses. Let's help them come back ❤️ thank you Nicole Canegata for these photos.

On September 20th, 2017, Hurricane Maria, category 5 storm, hit my beloved island of St. Croix. The eye wall was on top of Sandy Point, and the south west end of the island got a direct hit. This is just a glimpse of the devastation. It's hard to express how I feel after capturing all of this, but it's important to document the now, so that we can look back once St. Croix is rebuilt and normal again to appreciate the resilience of our community. We have been battered, but not broken. Mother Earth will replenish herself in time. We might not have electricity, full cell & wifi service for the foreseeable future, but I am thankful for life, that all of my loved ones are safe and well, a roof over my head, and food on the table. Some people were not as fortunate, and my heart breaks for them. As a community, it's beautiful how we are all coming together and supporting one another through this time. Things are tough, but we are taking one day at a time.

The St. Croix Foundation commissioned me to take these photos to document the aftermath and recovery. If you would like to assist in the relief efforts in St. Croix, please consider contributing to their organization at: www.usvigives.org. THANK YOU!!!

P.S. Thank you Kemit-Amon Lewis & Kevin Wesley for maneuvering around fallen telephone poles, spliced wires, huge trees uprooted and blown over, and debris of all kind, just so I could get these shots :) x

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE...

09/30/2017

I have been in contact with Richard & Patty from The Nature Conservancy, Rose (housekeeper at Cottages who opened her own business, Rose's Dream Cuisine), Paul Benedict and Cottages by the Sea family, Clema and others from The Women's Coalition, Norma from The Domino Club, Olasee Davis from USVI, Benito from the National Park Service, Pi, Bill, and Bobby from Teres Veho/Freedom City Surf...all are doing as well as I can possibly imagine and are focused on rebuilding their lives and their beloved island. I am humbled to be able to help in any way. Any amount donated will be deeply appreciated. Updates to come!

09/30/2017

Please consider donating to the Winona State University Foundation, St. Croix, USVI, Hurricane Relief Fund. WSU faculty and students have been working with community partners on the island since 2004, and we have benefited tremendously and we have learned so much from our time spent on St. Croix. It's time to give back. By clicking the donate button and changing the designation to "Other" and typing "WSUtoSTX" as you donate, your tax-deductible contribution will go to get needed supplies to St. Croix.

All funds donated will be used to purchase and deliver/ship needed supplies to the island. Shipping will be done in the most economical way possible; currently, the best way to get needed items to St. Croix is to use Amazon Prime to send pantry boxes ($5 flat rate) to Topical Shipping, Florida, Port of Palm Beach Seaport, which will deliver each Prime Pantry box to St. Croix for $20 per pantry box. The price per box goes down as the number of boxes goes up! I am working with my long-time community partner, Professor Olasee Davis, University of the Virgin Islands, to distribute the supplies on the island of St. Croix. He and others will collect the boxes and work with the Women’s Coalition of St. Croix to distribute where needed most.

The first pantry boxes will ship next week!