By Nelson A. King
New York City Mayor Bill de
Blasio on April 20 donated a
container and two van loads of
relief supplies for volcano-ravaged
St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
saying that Vincentians
should not be left alone to grapple
with this monumental natural
disaster.
“We have a special perspective
as New Yorkers. COVID-19,
we went through that shock, we
went through that pain,” said
de Blasio at a handing-over ceremony
at the Friends of Crown
Heights Educational Center in
Brooklyn, which serves as the
principal volcano relief base for
Vincentians in New York.
“New York City stands with
you,” added de Blasio, turning
to Vincentians and other Caribbean
nationals assembled under
a tent outside the center. “You
will not walk alone. We will walk
besides you.”
Vaughan Toney, the Vincentian
born president and chief
executive officer of the Friends
of Crown Heights Educational
Center thanked, saying “the City
of New York is once again rising
to fulfill its reputation as
the greatest city in the world by
donating a mammoth consignment
of desperately needed relief
supplies to alleviate the suffering
and displacement caused by
the Soufriere volcanic eruption
in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
“Mr. Mayor, on behalf of the
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Disaster Relief Committee and
the wider community of Vincentian
and other Caribbean-American
nationals in New York, I
am honored to say ‘welcome’
and ‘thank you’ for this generous
outpouring of solidarity and
support you are showing to the
Vincentian people in their hour
of need,” added Toney, a member
of the Brooklyn-based SVG
Relief USA, Inc.
“A catastrophe of the magnitude
that is unfolding in St. Vincent
and the Grenadines at this
time requires an urgent and gargantuan
Caribbean L 6 ife, APR. 30-MAY 6, 2021
international response,
and you are leading the way
in rising to meet the challenge
of this moment,” added Toney,
who also recognized among the
audience former New York City
Council Member, Jamaicanborn
Dr. Una S.T. Clarke, the
first Caribbean-born woman
to be elected to New York City
Council, as well as New York
City Council Member Laurie A.
Cumbo, the Council’s Majority
Leader.
In addition to the standard
shipping arrangements by sea,
Toney said the Relief Committee
is “currently making every effort
to secure a military transport
aircraft to expedite the delivery
of these supplies to St. Vincent
and the Grenadines.
Cumbo – who represents the
35th Council District, which
includes the communities of
Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect
Heights and parts of Crown
Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant
in Brooklyn – disclosed that she
and the City Council are working
with Caribbean American Democratic
Congresswoman Yvette
D. Clarke, Dr. Clarke’s daughter,
and her Brooklyn counterpart,
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries,
“to get (military) transport to
get supplies there (to St. Vincent
and the Grenadines).”
St. Vincent and the Grenadines’
Mayor de Blasio hands symbolic supply to Atiba Williams,
public relations offi cer of the Brooklyn-based SVG Relief
USA, Inc. Photo by Nelson A. King
New York Consul General
Howie Prince told de Blasio
and the gathering that “our
country is still under attack so
to speak.
“The devastation that the volcano
has left in its path is mindboggling,”
he said, adding that
“the recovery will be a tremendous
one.”
Verna Arthur, chairperson of
SVG Relief USA, Inc., told Caribbean
Life she was gratified with
the Mayor’s gesture.
“Yesterday’s event was, indeed,
a heart-warming occasion,” she
said on April 21. “Thanks to
Mayor de Blasio for his generous
contribution to SVG Relief USA,
Inc. relief effort, as we work
feverishly to fulfill the needs
of our brothers and sisters in
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
during these trying times.”
Mayor donates container of supplies
for volcano-ravaged St. Vincent
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