Late last week, Operation Compassion began filling containers and airplanes headed for the Caribbean in the wake of Hurricane Maria. With electricity and other services non-existent on many island nations, Operation Compassion has been dealing with church leaders and heads of government trying to formulate a successful strategy for assisting the survivors. While the logistics of getting one container to an island port struggling to provide services is extremely difficult, Operation Compassion is trying to maximize the opportunity for getting product where the people in need are located.
Two semi-trucks were loaded on a cargo plane and left Wednesday from Houston and two more semi-trucks left Memphis on a Fed-Ex cargo plane with product specifically for the Caribbean island nations. In addition, 33 containers have been staged and some have been shipped. Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Tortola and Dominica are the islands suffering the most with a few of these islands having been struck by two category 5 hurricanes in a week.
In Florida, Operation Compassion has shipped and scheduled to ship 38 truckloads of disaster relief aid to 23 disaster relief sites across the state. These sites continue to distribute food, water, hygiene items, diapers, cleaning supplies and many of items of necessity. Operation Compassion also continues to deliver truckloads to the Houston, Texas area, with 18 disaster relief sites having received 38 truckloads of disaster relief aid.
As people move from survivor to recovery to rebuilding, Operation Compassion will continue to fulfill its mission. However, the cost is high and the duration is long. Operation Compassion needs financial partners to help continue responding in the U.S. and the Caribbean. You can join the list of partners by contacting www.operationcompassion.org for online donations, calling 423.728.3932, mailing donations to Operation Compassion, 114 Stuart Road, NE PMB 370, Cleveland, TN 37312.