Marie Rodland-Allen, Managing Director of CIBC FirstCaribbean presents to Captain Stephen Russell, Director of NEMA. CIBC FirstCaribbean donated 25 fridges and stoves to the Hurricane Joaquin rebuilding effort. (Photo credit: Bahamas Information Services)
CIBC FirstCaribbean has purchased 25 refrigerators and 25 range stoves and donated them to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Repairs and Reconstruction Unit (NRRU) for their installation into 25 new government-built homes in the Southern Bahamas. The new homes will house 25 families who lost theirs in Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015.
Following 3 months of discussion and planning, Captain Stephen Russell, Director of NEMA, and Melanie Roach, head of the NRRU, were ready in February 2016 to sign-up local contractors to begin the work on 25 new homes. They went to Crooked Island, San Salvador and Long Island, the areas hardest hit, signed up local contractors and issued mobilization cheques, materials distribution lists, building plans and building code manuals. Their initiative to build new homes was reported in the local papers and CIBC FirstCaribbean donation committee voted to help in the process of re-housing 25 families as the bank’s Hurricane Joaquin relief effort.
CIBC FirstCaribbean Managing Director, Marie Rodland-Allen said, “As a good corporate citizen, CIBC FirstCaribbean staff are encouraged to help when and where they feel it is needed. We don’t have a banking presence on Crooked Island, San Salvador or Long Island but our staff rose to the occasion and donated supplies to those most impacted by the hurricane last year but we had always intended to do even more. This donation of appliances is taking it a step further of course and it came about during a brainstorming session with staff on how we could make the most impact to those hard hit by Hurricane Joaquin. Our enquiries led to Melanie Roach, head of the NRRU.”
Ms. Roach advised that they needed 25 sets of fridges and stoves for the kitchens of 25 homes they were building on three of the Family Islands. CIBC FirstCaribbean, Bahamas, decided to purchase them as the bank’s donation to the Hurricane Joaquin effort.
“We felt that it was a very useful, meaningful and direct method of assistance for these in need, “said Mrs. Rodland-Allen. “ I’m looking forward to visiting some of the homes to see the installation in progress and to meet the families moving in.”
Samples of the Frigidaire stoves and gas ranges donated to NEMA’s rebuilding efforts for Hurricane Joaquin by CIBC FirstCaribbean. (Photo credit: Frigidaire)
About CIBC FirstCaribbean
CIBC FirstCaribbean is the largest, regionally-listed bank in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean serving over 400,000 customers in 17 markets, through approximately 2,700 staff, across 100 branches and offices. The bank, which has almost 250 years of combined experience in the region, offers a full range of market-leading financial services in: Corporate and Investment Banking, Treasury Sales and Trading, Retail Banking, Wealth Management, Small Business and Credit Cards.
CIBC FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC is a leading Canadian-based global financial institution with nearly 11 million personal banking and business clients. Through our three major business units – Retail and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Wholesale Banking – CIBC offers a full range of products and services through its comprehensive electronic banking network, branches and offices across Canada with offices in the United States and around the world.
For more information about CIBC FirstCaribbean, visit www.cibcfcib.com.
By Chauntez Dillet-Wilson
Source: Serena Williams Media & Public Relations
