Relief volunteers celebrate, with the Vincentian national fl ag, to Shaggy and Sean Paul’s ‘I will rise again.’ Photo by
Nelson A. King
Caribbean Life, MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021 3
By Nelson A. King
Brooklyn’s Caribbean community
on Monday mourned the passing of
Mary Bishop, the Trinidadian-born,
long-standing director of Constituent
Services in the 9th Congressional District
in Brooklyn, represented Caribbean
American Democratic Congresswoman,
Yvette D. Clarke.
Bishop died on May 9. She would
have been 59 on June 25.
Mourners paid tributes in person
and online at the funeral at Holy
Innocents Catholic Church, 279 East
17th St. and Beverly Road, Brooklyn.
Among mourners were Congresswoman
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican
immigrants; Clarke’s mother, Dr. Una
S.T. Clarke, the trail-blazing former
New York City Councilwoman; New
York Attorney General Letitia James;
and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams,
the son of Grenadian immigrants.
Clarke told mourners that she was
“in the throes of grief and gratitude, as
I’m still processing the transition of our
beloved Mary.
“I’m grieving because my dear sister,
friend, co-worker and staffer was so full
of life, so vibrant, so strong and so conscious
of her own self-care,” she said.
“It’s just hard to believe that she has
departed. She seemed so invincible. Yet,
like all of us, she was vulnerable.
“I feel very blessed to have walked
part of my life’s journey along with
Mary, who was walking hers,” she added.
“It’s just amazing how God places people
in our lives for a season, so that we
assist each other to walk through life by
walking together.
“I had a unique bond with and view
into who she was as woman, a mother,
a grandmother, a friend and a public
servant,” Clarke continued. “I am grieving
Mary’s departure as a recipient of
her love, her caring, her empathy and
compassion for others. Her smile and
the twinkle in her slanted eyes sitting
above her high Caribbean cheek bones,
were hallmarks of her persona.”
By Nelson A. King
After spending the last five weeks
sorting, packing and shipping relief
supplies for volcano-ravaged St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, the Brooklynbased
SVG Relief USA, Inc. on Saturday
announced that it was halting pick-up
and drop off operations from the main
hub at the Friends of Crown Heights
Educational Center.
“As of today, May 22, 2021, we are
putting an official pause on the pickup/
drop off of our relief efforts,” Verna
Arthur, SVG Relief USA, Inc. chairperson,
told a press conference at the
Friends of Crown Heights Educational
Center, flanked by executive members
and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Consul General to the United States,
Howie Prince.
“We are, however, receiving and continue
to encourage monetary donations
to help us fund the clean-up/recovery
efforts, which is monumental,” added
Arthur at the press conference attended
also by many volunteers adorned in
identical T-shirts.
She said SVG Relief USA, Inc. “continues
to respond robustly to the clarion
call from our brothers and sisters.
“Our members and volunteers continue
without hesitation to help SVG
comb through its way from the ashes,”
Arthur said. “The positive energy exuding
from our members and volunteers
is, indeed, heartwarming and permeates
FOCH (Friends of Crown Heights)
every weekend, plus the one weekday
selected for this enormous task.”
As a result, she said her group has
shipped nine commercial bins and three
40-foot containers of supplies to St.
Vincent and the Grenadines, and that it
currently has enough items at Friends
of Crown Heights Educational Center,
the principal relief site in Brooklyn, to
fill two more containers.
Though the National Emergency
Management Organization (NEMO) in
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the
official organization with which SVG
Relief USA, Inc. is working with, Arthur
said her group is also sending relief
items to the local Red Cross, Salvation
Army, and the Lions and Rotary clubs.
“Moving forward, we intend to ramp
up our communications with NEMO
and other institutions, which sit at the
table with NEMO, as it relates to relief
efforts,” she said, disclosing that representatives
from SVG Relief USA, Inc.
will soon be heading to St. Vincent and
the Grenadines to meet with NEMO and
other officials to assess the situation
on the ground, assist with distribution
of supplies and conduct other needed
activities.
“We also plan on conducting fundraising
events, in continuation of our
St. Vincent and the Grenadines commitment,
including the purchasing
of high-ticket items, as needed, for
the clean-up/recovery efforts,” Arthur
added. “SVG Relief USA, Inc. is the
trusted messenger in New York for the
relief efforts of SVG. We are in this for
the long haul, and will continue to help
our brothers and sisters through these
difficult times. We are our ‘brothers’
keepers’; and, yes, SVG will rise again!”
The relief group’s chairperson
thanked the volunteers, including some
Caribbean nationals, “for giving up five
weekends and over five weekdays to
ensure that relief items were prepared
and sent to SVG.”
To date, she said St. Vincent and the
Grenadines has experienced about 37
eruptions from the La Soufriere volcano,
stating that “the damages and
uncertainty of continued destruction
are very troubling to say the least.”
Prince said “yeoman service,” in the
wake of the volcanic eruptions, could
not have taken place without the establishment
of partnerships, pointing out
that they began with the revival of SVG
Relief USA, Inc.
He identified, among other main
partners/players, the Brooklyn-based
umbrella Vincentian group in the United
States, Council of St Vincent and
the Grenadines Organizations in the
USA, Inc. (COSAGO); the Brooklynbased
SVG DRIP; the CARICOM Consular
Corp and Caribbean organizations
in the US; faith-based organizations;
Friends of Crown Height Educational
Center; the Brooklyn-based Vincentianowned
shipping companies, Standard
Shippers, Square Deal Shippers and
Standard Caribbean Shippers; Alliance
of the New York Mayor’s Office; American
Red Cross; and United Postal Service
(UPS), which was expected on Monday
to begin airlifting relief supplies to
St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“We’re a people who take humanitarian
work at heart, and we don’t hesitate
to get the work done,” said Laverne
McDowald-Thompson, COSAGO president,
while also thanking dozens of
volunteers.
The late Mary Bishop of Trinidad
& Tobago.
Offi ce of Congresswoman, Yvette D. Clarke
Vincy relief group halts collection
Community
mourns Mary
Bishop