Supplies for Bahamas Children Emergency Hostel

Hi there!

My name is Ellison Barber. I am a broadcast journalist, who’s most recent assignment was in the Bahamas, covering Hurricane Dorian and its aftermath. 

My colleagues and I had been in the Bahamas for about four days when we heard about the Children’s Emergency Hostel in Nassau. 

They’d just received 16 children, most under the age of 3, from one of the areas Hurricane Dorian hit the hardest: Grand Bahama. The youngest is four-months old. 

The shelter already had children before the hurricane.

Caretakers told me they’ve never had this many children at one time. 

I talked about their situation at the end of a live-report (link below) on Monday - and spent a good chunk of the day sitting with one of the little girls who came from Grand Bahama.  

She reminded me of my niece.

I don’t know what happened to her parents, but I know she adorably scrunches up her nose when she smiles. 

I wanted to do something more, so I asked the administrator of the shelter what sort of items they needed — incase I could run to the store and drop something off. 

She told me they needed diapers and printed out the shelter’s wish-list.

I mentioned something to my friend, Sabrina Tongren, who happened to have the same name as one of the children at the shelter. I told her what it was like and that I was going to pick up supplies. 

She immediately sent me money, even though I didn’t ask her to. 

I woke up the next morning with donations from five other women I’d never met.

All friends of my friend. All wanting to help the children at the shelter. 

I mentioned it to my mother and sister.

They sent me money too. 

Before I knew it, I had about $600 dollars to help the Children’s Shelter. I decided to double it and the next day (my last in the Bahamas) I went shopping.... with roughly $1,300 we bought diapers, sippy cups, baby spoons, baby bottles, Gerber baby snacks, formula, pacifiers, rattles, teethers, laundry detergent, towels, and new clothes. The photo attached is everything we got, laid out on a table, at the shelter. 

Since then, others have asked me how they can help too. 

I’m not in the Bahamas to make a delivery myself, but my new plan is this: I’m going to collect money and then buy more items on the shelter’s wish list. One of the people we worked with in the Bahamas, has agreed to let me send him items and then hand-deliver it to the shelter.

I’ll be in touch with the shelter to make sure we are sending the right things (i.e. they had a lot of newborn diapers this week, but needed bigger sizes, like 4T & 5T. We want to make sure we get what they need... toys are fun, but if they have a bunch and don’t have anywhere to store the extras - it won’t help). 

If anyone wants to donate, this is one way they can - it is certainly not the only way. You can also reach out to the shelter directly (google for their number, ask for Shelia) or find other organizations working in the Bahamas.

Bahamians are doing a lot to help each other, but this storm has destroyed lives in ways most of can never comprehend. If you can do something to help, do it! 

The caretakers at this shelter are amazing and doing their absolute best to take care of these children, but they are overwhelmed. They have far more children than they expected. There are a lot of mouths to feed and babies to hold. If we can do a little more to help ensure the caretakers have the tools and the supplies to protect and feed these babies - I think we should try. 









*https://video.foxnews.com/v/6084731426001/#sp=show-clips