Fiji Cyclone Winston Relief Fund – A Letter From Sea Mercy

Sea Mercy Friends,

As many of you know, Cyclone Winston’s 300+kmh winds and storm surge has devastated the island nation of Fiji and the people living on the remote islands have experienced the heaviest brunt of the impact. As Sea Mercy responded in Tonga in 2014 (cyclone Ian) and in Vanuatu in 2015 (cyclone Pam), we are once again sending our volunteer fleet of small and large vessels, loaded with shelter, food, water and medical supplies and teams to the hundreds of “at risk” islands. We have had many requests on how to assist the people of Fiji during this difficult time and below are three ways:

Direct Donation – for the immediate purchase of shelter, food, tools and medical supplies.

In-Kind Donation – for the ongoing recovery efforts on the remote islands.

Volunteer – Medical, vessel captain, construction, labor, or other.

Sea Mercy Fiji Current Response & Partnerships

Sea Mercy was selected to work directly with Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) leadership for the coordination of Sea Mercy vessels and aid to those stricken remote islands and villages that no longer can be accessed by road. The NDMO has provided us with a dedicated office and staff member to work directly with the NDMO Commissioner to speed communication and tasking of assignments for our volunteer vessels. Because the first initial days are crucial, Sea Mercy is avoiding the initial “international aid bottleneck” that can occur during the first few weeks by purchasing and staging as much crucial aid as possible (shelter, food, water containers, medical supplies, filters, etc.) for our vessels to deliver to meet those emergency needs. We have also formed a working partnership with ShelterBox in order to respond quickly with essential aid. We currently have 10 active local vessels in Fiji (new vessels joining us daily) and a growing fleet of superyachts preparing to sail from NZ, AUS and Tahiti to join us. Our US and Fiji based teams and volunteers are doing a fantastic job.

Thank you for your consideration of the above request. Whether you are able to assist or not, we ask that you please keep the people of Fiji in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

All the best to you.

Richard Hackett
President & Founder
www.seamercy.org
info@seamercy.org