Students Of Atlanta Show Their Support For The Bahamas During Hurricane Dorian Recovery
On Sept. 1, Hurricane Dorian made its first attack on the Bahamas as a category five hurricane, primarily affecting Abaco Island and Grand Bahama Island. With winds of 185 mph, the hurricane stalled 24-hours directly over Grand Bahama and maintained its fast winds. A total of 50 people so far have died due to the storm and conditions thereafter, and several are still missing. Hurricane Dorian is the most powerful hurricane to hit the Bahamas since 1851.
The Bahamian tourism board has welcomed tourists to come to the other islands (The Exumas, Nassau, Rum Cay, etc.) as tourism is the country’s most successful field, and funds would greatly help the devastated islands.
The Caribbean community spans worldwide, with much of it here in Atlanta, Georgia. Several organizations have created GoFundMe pages and initiated other fundraising efforts to help garner monetary assistance to Abaco and Grand Bahama. Some groups have even started donation drives, one group being Island Vybz, the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Caribbean student club. For the first two weeks of the fall 2019 quarter, the club stationed in the school’s cafeteria and welcomed donations of toiletries, clothes, water, and other relief items which would be sent out in the following weeks. Treasurer and assistant social media manager of the club, Rochelle Lee, said about six large boxes were filled with toiletries and clothes that students donated during those first two weeks of school.
On Sept. 14, Caribbean students from SCAD, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech., Emory University, Kennesaw State University, University of Georgia, and the AUC (Spelman, Morehouse, Clark Atlanta) met at a packaging warehouse to organize and send off all items received. The Bahamas Consulate General collaborated with the Georgia Caribbean Student Alliance to organize this event, which turned out to be a large success.
The Georgia Caribbean Student Alliance (GCSA) is a non-profit organization which “pretty much acts as the umbrella for the Caribbean students in Atlanta”, said Phillip Grant who founded the group in 2016. Their “GCSA Cares” branch is constantly seeking outreach and community opportunities to help the wider Atlanta Caribbean community. Grant said the AUC brought in 15 large garbage bags filled with a variety of basic items, which was one of the larger university donations received. “The Caribbean community has more reach than we think”, Grant said as a testament to how involved Atlanta based individuals with no Caribbean heritage are still just as involved in the outreaches as people of Caribbean descent.
As of Sept. 23, Abaco Island and East Grand Bahama Island have been labeled “economic recovery zones” by Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis.
The Bahamas Consulate General and surrounding groups in Atlanta will be staging another packaging day as not all donations were sent out, though the groups spent all day at the warehouse. The Georgia Caribbean Student Alliance or SCAD Island Vybz should be announcing these dates soon should this second staging occur. Follow them on their social media: @gcsainc and @islandvybz_scadatl on Instagram to keep updated.
