Anguilla Relief Efforts to Date
September 19, 2017

As many of you know, Hurricane Irma hit Anguilla and the surrounding islands in the Caribbean on Wednesday, September 6. The devastation to the island, and to its neighboring island St. Maarten, was tremendous. Many buildings on the island were blown apart, roofs ripped off, fewer structures flattened. Sustained winds of 117 mph were measured on Anguilla, with higher gusts recorded.

The world is full of needs, injustices and issues requiring advocacy and resources. As you know, the list is endless. We each must choose the ones that speak to us and that we prioritize. Attending to one does not lessen the need of another.

I have spent years visiting the island of Anguilla and have formed lasting friendships with many residents, business owners, and government officials. The urge to act, in whatever way possible, was immediate.

My staff at Time Equities, led by my Chief of Staff Natalie Diaz, have been working around the clock since the hurricane’s impact on September 6 to source and deliver emergency supplies to Anguilla.

We began our efforts in the first few days after the storm by locating charter plane operators that were functioning out of the Caribbean. We were able to locate a superb operator, Fly One Caribbean, out of St. Vincent to conduct emergency flights to Anguilla in the following days. We were able to deliver three separate charter planes full of goods to Anguilla on Monday, September 11, Tuesday, September 12, and Thursday, September 14. The staff at Fly One Caribbean was extraordinary in their resourcefulness and urgency with which they acted in sourcing the most urgently needed items to Anguilla: food, water, blankets, inflatable mattresses, baby food, diapers, flashlights, and so on. Totaling all three flights, we were able to deliver 7400 pounds of goods to the people of Anguilla.

We then shifted our focus to arranging for the transportation of bulk goods to the island. We identified a shipping vessel out of Miami, FL that is able to make a 4-day journey to Anguilla by sea. After informing the Anguillan Government’s Department of Disaster Management of our intentions, we were supplied with a specific list of items to source for this shipment. The items requested by the government are substantial in nature, and vital to the rebuilding efforts on the island: generators, plywood, sheet metal, windows, doors, solar charging inverters, etc.

We have since undertaken a colossal team effort to source all goods across the South Eastern United States. This has included the individuals from the Anguillan diaspora who live in Florida and came together to help us transport various goods that had to be sourced from disparate locations because of all the demands for and shortages of emergency relief supplies. We have also worked with various Time Equities property managers and contacts across the states of Tennessee and Florida to source the items and arrange for the packing, consolidation, and transport of items to the barge in Miami. We have sourced approximately $70,000 of goods for the people of Anguilla.

We will continue to focus on the immediate, medium, and long-term recovery efforts for the island of Anguilla. I thank Chief Minister Victor Banks for his close communication and leadership during this challenging time, as the Greenburger Center relief effort will continue to work in close contact with the government of Anguilla.

We thank all who have participated in this effort in any way, and especially those of you who have joined us in this effort by offering to send spontaneous donations, all of which we have used to support the above relief efforts.

Thank you so very much.
Francis Greenburger