Help Cottages by the Sea and Staff
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As most of you already know, all 3 of the US Virgin Islands have been devastated by category 5 hurricanes this month. Cottages by the Sea faired well following a direct hit from Maria, but, unfortunately the rest of the island did not do so well, so it will be some time before we can start receiving guests again.
We are still a business whose sole income is based on tourism revenue. We have lost our income for the month of September for both of our hotels, Cottages by the Sea, and The Inn on Strand Street, and we are receiving staggering numbers of cancellations for future reservations.
Many people have emailed, called, texted, messaged and offered to help. Basically, the best way to help is to provide funds to help our business to continue to function until we start receiving vacationers again. We do not have a lot of rebuilding to do, although we do have A LOT of clean up and repair, but we do still have to pay our staff and our basic bills for the next few months, so if you would like to help our business stay financially afloat during this trying time, we would be forever grateful.
The basic costs involved in keeping both businesses functioning are staggering on a monthly basis. Being in business is not cheap - especially in St Croix - and the list of basic costs just to keep the doors open for business is our biggest concern at this time.
Any funds donated to Cottages by the Sea will not be used to rebuild St Croix, so if your heart is with helping the island as a whole, please look for sites designated to helping individuals in need, but for us, our need is to continue to pay our bills and our employees (they all still need jobs even though we have no guests at the present time) and we need our employees to help get every cottage back to tip top shape for our future guests.
We are in the process of applying for a Small Business Loan and possible FEMA funds, but we are still unsure as to the status of those loans.
We thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
The Benedict Family and Staff at Cottages by the Sea
As most of you already know, all 3 of the US Virgin Islands have been devastated by category 5 hurricanes this month. Cottages by the Sea faired well following a direct hit from Maria, but, unfortunately the rest of the island did not do so well, so it will be some time before we can start receiving guests again.
We are still a business whose sole income is based on tourism revenue. We have lost our income for the month of September for both of our hotels, Cottages by the Sea, and The Inn on Strand Street, and we are receiving staggering numbers of cancellations for future reservations.
Many people have emailed, called, texted, messaged and offered to help. Basically, the best way to help is to provide funds to help our business to continue to function until we start receiving vacationers again. We do not have a lot of rebuilding to do, although we do have A LOT of clean up and repair, but we do still have to pay our staff and our basic bills for the next few months, so if you would like to help our business stay financially afloat during this trying time, we would be forever grateful.
The basic costs involved in keeping both businesses functioning are staggering on a monthly basis. Being in business is not cheap - especially in St Croix - and the list of basic costs just to keep the doors open for business is our biggest concern at this time.
Any funds donated to Cottages by the Sea will not be used to rebuild St Croix, so if your heart is with helping the island as a whole, please look for sites designated to helping individuals in need, but for us, our need is to continue to pay our bills and our employees (they all still need jobs even though we have no guests at the present time) and we need our employees to help get every cottage back to tip top shape for our future guests.
We are in the process of applying for a Small Business Loan and possible FEMA funds, but we are still unsure as to the status of those loans.
We thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
The Benedict Family and Staff at Cottages by the Sea
Organizer and beneficiary
Cottages by the Sea St. Croix
Organizer
Frederiksted, United States Virgin Islands
Ruth Fox
Beneficiary
