Hurricane recovery help for Vieques
Donation protected
We are sailing to Vieques with a boatload of stuff they need. Please donate to help us purchase these supplies they have specifically asked for. 100% of all donations will go directly to purchase supplies that we will deliver directly to those in need on Vieques.
As you know Puerto Rico was hit very hard by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The small island of Vieques off the east coast of Puerto Rico was hit just as hard (86% of homes badly damaged or destroyed) but they are also separated, isolated and not receiving even as much help as the main island of Puerto Rico (which is already not receiving enough). Vieques has about 9000 people, and many of them were already living in poverty and barely getting by, as there are few jobs or sources of income other than tourism, which is now at a standstill. Many people lost everything in the hurricane: their roofs, their homes, their clothes, their beds, their jobs and businesses… everything. We are sailing to Vieques with as much aid and relief supplies as we can carry. We have already loaded dozens of boxes of donated medical supplies, which will be useful, but we want to take more of what they need most. Below is a list from the Vieques Mayor’s office of their most urgent and highest priority items from a survey asking people what they need most. Please donate to help us purchase and deliver these items directly to the people who need them. I guarantee that every dollar donated will reach Vieques with 100% efficiency, as Sail Aid has no overhead, offices, salaries or other expenses, everyone is a volunteer and pays their own expenses so all money donated goes directly to those in need. Here is the list of the top 10 items we will buy and deliver with all funds donated:
Insect repellent (Insects thrive in post hurricane environments)
Generators (along with gas cans for them… no power anywhere)
Ice (with a portable ice maker running off a generator we can make ice there)
Food (they do not have much and supplies are not arriving regularly)
Water (we want to raise $5000 to buy a Rainman desalinator to make water for them)
Portable lights (solar or battery powered)
Battery or solar powered fans (no electricity, and it is hot and humid)
Portable radios (battery, hand crank or solar)
Air Beds and Air Mattresses (86% of homes damaged with beds soaked and moldy)
Tents and tarps for temporary shelter and roof coverings
Nails and tools for rebuilding homes and roofs
PLEASE NOTE: If you have or can get any of these items donated, please contact me to discuss shipping logistics.
Sail Aid International is an emerging non-profit organization that has grown out of more than 15 years experience sailing and delivering aid and relief supplies by sailboat. I have worked in the NGO world for over 25 years in many capacities, from volunteer to Exec Director to Board Member with more than a dozen non-profit organizations. In January 2010 I helped to organize a flotilla of more than a dozen sailboats that all sailed to Haiti in response to the big earthquake that hit Port au Prince. Upon arriving to the little island of Ile a Vache, Haiti in February of 2010, I realized that this was something I enjoyed doing, found satisfying and rewarding, and it seemed like a good way to help people who were disadvantaged by virtue of their location and circumstances: ie poor people living simple lives on isolated tropical islands with little opportunity for education, jobs, advancement or prosperity, who are then also hit by Mother Nature with a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane.
I have sailed to Haiti seven times since 2010. This winter of 2017-18 will mark my eighth voyage there delivering aid. I have worked and partnered with a number of organizations and built many enduring relationships. One thing I have learned is that the smaller and most simple and well focused organizations are the ones that are the most efficient and effective. Some of the big NGOs get lots of publicity, and many of them do good work, but even the best of them have a lot of overhead, salaries and spend a high percentage of their donated and granted funds on advertising, overhead, salaries, marketing, promotion and fundraising. Also, they are focused on the larger problems and population centers, where their efforts can reach the largest number of people. But what about the other people? People living on small outlying islands, coastal villages, in isolated areas are almost always overlooked by even the best of the larger international aid organizations, so that is where we go.
Sail Aid International is an organization for sailors who wish to lend a hand to smaller and isolated coastal villages and island communities where the small amount of aid and relief supplies we can deliver will make a very large difference in the lives of the people we reach. We cannot reach everyone, but for the people we do reach, even a small gift, act of generosity or helping hand can make a significant impact on their lives. Please donate or join us to reach out and give our less fortunate brothers and sisters a helping hand. Thank you. Sequoia Sun, founder, Sail Aid International.
As you know Puerto Rico was hit very hard by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The small island of Vieques off the east coast of Puerto Rico was hit just as hard (86% of homes badly damaged or destroyed) but they are also separated, isolated and not receiving even as much help as the main island of Puerto Rico (which is already not receiving enough). Vieques has about 9000 people, and many of them were already living in poverty and barely getting by, as there are few jobs or sources of income other than tourism, which is now at a standstill. Many people lost everything in the hurricane: their roofs, their homes, their clothes, their beds, their jobs and businesses… everything. We are sailing to Vieques with as much aid and relief supplies as we can carry. We have already loaded dozens of boxes of donated medical supplies, which will be useful, but we want to take more of what they need most. Below is a list from the Vieques Mayor’s office of their most urgent and highest priority items from a survey asking people what they need most. Please donate to help us purchase and deliver these items directly to the people who need them. I guarantee that every dollar donated will reach Vieques with 100% efficiency, as Sail Aid has no overhead, offices, salaries or other expenses, everyone is a volunteer and pays their own expenses so all money donated goes directly to those in need. Here is the list of the top 10 items we will buy and deliver with all funds donated:
Insect repellent (Insects thrive in post hurricane environments)
Generators (along with gas cans for them… no power anywhere)
Ice (with a portable ice maker running off a generator we can make ice there)
Food (they do not have much and supplies are not arriving regularly)
Water (we want to raise $5000 to buy a Rainman desalinator to make water for them)
Portable lights (solar or battery powered)
Battery or solar powered fans (no electricity, and it is hot and humid)
Portable radios (battery, hand crank or solar)
Air Beds and Air Mattresses (86% of homes damaged with beds soaked and moldy)
Tents and tarps for temporary shelter and roof coverings
Nails and tools for rebuilding homes and roofs
PLEASE NOTE: If you have or can get any of these items donated, please contact me to discuss shipping logistics.
Sail Aid International is an emerging non-profit organization that has grown out of more than 15 years experience sailing and delivering aid and relief supplies by sailboat. I have worked in the NGO world for over 25 years in many capacities, from volunteer to Exec Director to Board Member with more than a dozen non-profit organizations. In January 2010 I helped to organize a flotilla of more than a dozen sailboats that all sailed to Haiti in response to the big earthquake that hit Port au Prince. Upon arriving to the little island of Ile a Vache, Haiti in February of 2010, I realized that this was something I enjoyed doing, found satisfying and rewarding, and it seemed like a good way to help people who were disadvantaged by virtue of their location and circumstances: ie poor people living simple lives on isolated tropical islands with little opportunity for education, jobs, advancement or prosperity, who are then also hit by Mother Nature with a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane.
I have sailed to Haiti seven times since 2010. This winter of 2017-18 will mark my eighth voyage there delivering aid. I have worked and partnered with a number of organizations and built many enduring relationships. One thing I have learned is that the smaller and most simple and well focused organizations are the ones that are the most efficient and effective. Some of the big NGOs get lots of publicity, and many of them do good work, but even the best of them have a lot of overhead, salaries and spend a high percentage of their donated and granted funds on advertising, overhead, salaries, marketing, promotion and fundraising. Also, they are focused on the larger problems and population centers, where their efforts can reach the largest number of people. But what about the other people? People living on small outlying islands, coastal villages, in isolated areas are almost always overlooked by even the best of the larger international aid organizations, so that is where we go.
Sail Aid International is an organization for sailors who wish to lend a hand to smaller and isolated coastal villages and island communities where the small amount of aid and relief supplies we can deliver will make a very large difference in the lives of the people we reach. We cannot reach everyone, but for the people we do reach, even a small gift, act of generosity or helping hand can make a significant impact on their lives. Please donate or join us to reach out and give our less fortunate brothers and sisters a helping hand. Thank you. Sequoia Sun, founder, Sail Aid International.
Organizer
Sequoia Sun
Organizer
Easton, PA
