In the many sailing magazines I subscribe to I frequently read articles about sailors who travel to various remote islands and bring with them items not easily obtained by locals - reading books, notebooks, writing pads, pencils, pens, crayons, etc. for the children; clothes for both children and adults; as well as other "home items" not available "on island". Sailors have a well-earned and much deserved reputation for their generosity toward residents of far away sailing destinations.
I am submitting this post on behalf of the residents of islands not so far away - The United States Virgin Islands - St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. The children and adults of these islands are American citizens every much as the children and adults in the Florida Keys and Houston. Yet, for reasons I do not understand, the USVIs are being essentially ignored by those of us living in the continental United States. The Weather Channel references the USVIs only to the extent necessary to hype the next "monster hurricane".
As we all know, the USVIs were devastated by Hurricane Irma last week. Conservative reports estimate that 90% - 95% of the structures on St. Thomas and St. John were completely demolished. The infrastructure (water, electric, etc.) is barely sporadic or nonexistent. These American citizens (and especially the children) are now faced with the devastating winds of Hurricane Maria - either a high Cat. 4 or Cat. 5 at landfall. As of this post sustained winds were 135 mph and climbing!!! Frankly, there is not much left for Maria to destroy. Irma took almost all. This time, St. Croix will be devastated also. There is precious little drinkable water and food left on these islands and now they have Hurricane Maria racing at them. The children will, as usual, suffer the worst from this looming disaster.
The USVIs have for years been the destination of choice for sailors wanting to get away for a week of bareboat or crewed cruising. These islands and their residents have been an oasis and a source of rejuvenation to thousands and thousands of sailors over the years. The USVI residents now very much need our help. Because of their remoteness the only way to get supplies, food, water, medical supplies, gas, etc., is via cargo ship or plane. It will be years before any sense of normalcy returns. The children will not be back in school (where they can have a sense of routine and order) for at least a year. As one of the real life victims of Hurricane Andrew (August 1992) I know all too well what it is like to try to rebuild and return to a sense of normalcy after all that you cherish is demolished before you. It took many of us several years to recover; and that was with the ease of resupply from cities, towns and states just a few miles north of us and easily accessed via interstate highways, not to mention planes with large runways and cargo ships with accessible harbors and docks.
There are several excellent charitable organizations who are working toward, and gearing up to, providing short term and long term assistance to the children and residents of the USVIs. I do not want to offer any list of names of charities for fear of leaving out one or more legitimate and reputable organizations. You can go to one or more independent financial organizations that rate charities to obtain the names of worthy charitable organizations to whom you can make financial contributions to the USVIs and feel comfortable knowing that your hard earned money will be well spent. For example, look at
https://www.charitynavigator.org/ There are several other similar “watch dog” websites.
I would respectfully ask that you consider making as generous a contribution as possible to the organization(s) of your choosing and that you
designate your donation to be routed to the hurricane relief efforts in the USVIs to help the American citizen children and families on these islands; especially think of the children. It would also be helpful to talk with friends and fellow sailors at your marina, sailing club, etc. to remind them of the suffering on the USVIs and urge them to make a contribution. Hopefully, by word of mouth it will slowly snowball into something significant and beneficial for the children and adults of the USVIs. We should not, and cannot, ignore them in their time of such overwhelming desperate need.
I do not have any relatives or friends in the USVIs. My sole interest and motivation are the American citizens on the islands - especially the children.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Thank you for whatever contribution you decide to make.
after Irma ( though before Maria 