Red Cross tallies hurricane contributions

The last winds of Hurricane Keith may have calmed over seven months ago, but the generosity of individuals and institutions both foreign and local continue unabated. One company, which originally pledged twenty-five thousand dollars to the efforts of the Belize Red Cross, decided to make a further contribution to the world’s largest relief organisation. Kevin Castillo, executive member of the society accepted a five thousand dollar cheque this morning from Anamarie Bennett of Courts.

Anamarie Bennett, Advertising/Promotions Mgr.

“We had pledged twenty-five thousand dollars in August. Before the year was over, last year, we had already given over thirty-three thousand dollars. This included a ten thousand-dollar Keith relief fund. The staff as well has contributed on their own by paying a dollar to come in jeans and T-shirts, so it’s a team effort. The five thousand dollar check also includes five dollars which we had pledged to donate in January…on every purchase we gave five dollars to the Red Cross, so this is the actual cheque.”

Kevin Castillo, Executive Member, Belize Red Cross

“I saw contributions as small as three dollars, to as much as a hundred thousand dollars or more. We appreciate everything that we get because we understand that people are giving from their hearts to try to help those people who are in need. At the end of the day looking at the report, I am extremely, extremely impressed and we give our heartfelt thanks to everybody who contributed to our effort. It shows a lot of confidence in our organisation and I hope that they continue to support it from henceforth.”

A report released this week by the Belize Red Cross indicates that total cash contributions to its Hurricane Keith appeal totalled nearly three million Belize dollars. Almost seven hundred thousand of that came from local sources.