BWIC Student Council Hurricane Irma Relief Drive

The effects of Hurricane Irma have been devastating across the Turks and Caicos Islands. This has prompted the BWIC Student Council to place special emphasis on what we could do to assist and aid those who suffered most. Shortly after school resumed, the Student Council, in collaboration with the charity ‘Food for Thought’, initiated a “Hurricane Relief Drive” to help provide supplies for the many islanders badly affected by this disaster.

In order to maximise the number of items that could be collected, donations were collected by each of our tutor groups. The Student Council representatives organised a box into which their class could put their relief items. Students were encouraged to bring in non-perishable food items, lightly worn clothes, sanitary supplies, school materials and other essentials. This project continued over the course of three weeks.

At the end of the drive, members of the BWIC Sixth Form, together with Miss Rankin, sorted and packaged all the items donated by the students. We are pleased to announce that a considerable number of relief items were brought in – much more than had been anticipated: a great effort by our student body and their families. Thank you to all who contributed.

One of the islands that sustained considerable damage, and is struggling in its recovery is South Caicos. This island was declared by the Governor and Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands as being in a “State of Emergency” on September 10, 2017, just three days after Irma had made landfall. We were very grateful, therefore, to be able to work with the Food for Thought charity in the distribution of our donated items. This community-based charity already has well-established connections with schools across our Turks and Caicos Islands, and, on Friday 21st October, our relief boxes were picked up by representatives from Food for Thought and transported over to South Caicos to be distributed through the Majorie Basden High School.

Watch out for our next initiative – helping to keep our coasts ‘beautiful by nature’!