After a disaster, you have to CARI-ON! A look at Caribbean disaster preparedness

BY JONEL PANTLITZ

Can you ever be too prepared?

These are questions that CARI-ON (Conducting Active Relief Impacting Our Nation) aims to answer for the community.

Established in 2018, CARI-ON is a Non-Profit Organization that has been dedicated to providing resources and active timely relief efforts, by delivering needed supplies to mitigate real or impending disasters, impacting St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They seek to help families, and communities to CARI-ON during and after disasters. They understand the importance of returning to a normal way of life.

Natural disasters occur on the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines yearly. It inflicts serious damage to land, property and life, leaving many Vincentians displaced, which ultimately compromises the development process of the island. CARI-ON mitigates some of the inherent challenges that come, via delivering needed supplies for real or impending disaster, impacting St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

According to Hayden Jones, Chairperson for CARI-ON, the organization supplies the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) with any needed pieces of equipment and supplies, so it is readily available in the event that an emergency hits the island.

This organization gets funding from donations and fundraisers, and although the pandemic has obstructed some aspects of their relief efforts, most recently the non-profit organization received twenty-eight cots to send down to Saint Vincent form Global Medics.

We had a chance to chat with Hayden Jones, and he shared some insight with us. “The person in charge is Rahul Singh. He has been very kind in helping us. He has worked in conjunction with CARI-ON and the Council General of Saint Vincent. We also have a partnership with Valerie Durand at Air Canada Foundation that assisted them in getting the cots to Saint Vincent and Grenadines.”

CARI-ON is aiming at sending a shipment of forty-four cots to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the next few weeks, along with other emergency supplies. So far, they have received donations from other Vincentian organizations.

Hayden Jones pointed that, “As you know; we are a third world nation, so any support, typically the shipments we send to the island are the most needed in the event of a disaster. If houses are destroyed, people are misplaced, and they have nowhere to go, we have several shelters on the island.”

Hayden Jones also expressed that he is thankful there have been no hurricanes as of yet for the season, because with the added stress of the pandemic, he is not sure how that would work.

According to Hayden, “The Island has been surviving hurricanes and natural disasters for decades. We just saw this as a way for us to give back to our country. We knew that the need was there for this particular initiative.”

Hayden speaks proudly of the team that he has supporting CARI-ON “I am grateful for my supportive team. Without them, the organization wouldn’t be where it is at.” 

CARI-ON is currently seeking volunteers. If you are interested in making a donation to this cause, you can check out their website https://www.carionsvg.org/ or contact Hayden Hones directly at 416-889-3293.