#Miami, FL, September 18, 2019 – USA – As thousands of Bahamians continue to be in need of food, water and shelter, The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), through the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation (CWCF), today announced its partnership with World Central Kitchen (WCK). BTC presented WCK with a check in the amount of US$25,000 to help the organization with the cost of providing meals to displaced families.
WCK has been
providing fresh meals throughout The Bahamas since just after Hurricane Dorian
made landfall on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama as a category five
hurricane on September 1st. “This grant from the CWCF will go
a long way to help us get food to those who need it the most. Many
communities have been completely devastated and are in dire need”, said Erin
Gore of WCK. “To date, we have served 280,000 meals to people across both
islands, as well as to those currently living in shelters in Nassau.”
“This grant to
WCK is part of our broader humanitarian initiative in The Bahamas”, said Denise
Williams, a Director of the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation and SVP
of Communications at C&W Communications. “Our team visited the islands of Grand Bahama
and Abaco immediately after the passage of Hurricane Dorian and have seen the
devastation firsthand. Based on those
reports we immediately initiated our response protocols. We will be supporting organizations such as WCK
that are working to help bring relief to those affected by the hurricane.”
Last week, the CWCF
committed US$500,000 towards immediate relief and rebuilding initiatives. “We have already utilized a significant
amount of these funds to purchase and ship critical items such as generators,
care packages and supplies to the islands to support affected communities. In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work
with organizations such as WCK to get additional supplies to those most in need,”
said Williams.
Gary Sinclair,
CEO of BTC also outlined the broader humanitarian support the company is
providing in The Bahamas. “In addition
to aid from the C&W regional Foundation, BTC has also airlifted and shipped
over 60,000 pounds of food, water and critical care supplies along with 225
generators to the islands. Our first
priority was securing the safety of our employees and their families. We have evacuated 160 employees and family
members and are providing them with temporary housing and essential supplies,
while at the same time, we are providing critical supplies to members of
affected communities”. Sinclair
indicated that BTC will support longer term re-building activities on the
island.
The Cable &
Wireless Charitable Foundation was established in
2017 to help the region rebuild in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. The
Foundation has raised more than US$1.2M and has used
the funds to:
- distribute
emergency supplies to thousands in the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos
Islands, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla and Puerto Rico;
- build stronger and
safer facilities for students in Dominica, Anguilla, and Turks and Caicos
Islands;
- support the
rebuilding efforts in Dominica, including the island’s only public library;
- enable hundreds of
young people to learn new life skills in vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico,
Curacao and Jamaica; and,
- support more
disaster resilient communities in Trinidad and Barbados.
The Foundation is now focusing its efforts on immediate disaster
relief and longer-term rebuilding activities in the region.
About C&W Communications
C&W, part of the Liberty Latin America group of companies, is a
full-service communications and entertainment provider and delivers
market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in
more than 20 markets. Through its business division, C&W provides data
center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and
customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business
and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine
fiber network – the most extensive in the region.
Media
Contact:
Wendy
McDonald
Wendy.mcdonald@cwc.com
305-992-9079
About Cable
& Wireless Charitable Foundation
Cable & Wireless Communications’ commitment to
doing business in a responsible and sustainable way is why we launched the
Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation (CWCF). The Foundation is a powerful
platform to raise and distribute funds to those in need across our markets.
Since its launch, the Foundation has raised US$1.5 million, and
committed over US$1 million to recognized local, regional and international
agencies to execute relief and recovery projects in eight countries. These
projects help communities across Latin America and the Caribbean to not only
recover from crises but support them in becoming more resilient when facing
similar challenges in the future. In addition to the recovery and
resiliency work, the CWCF also supports activities that enable
progress in communities, as part of our efforts to build stronger
communities and nations.
Media
Contact
Denise
Williams
Denise.williams@cwc.com
305-607-6397