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Local companies rally to help the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian

Updated  September 10, 2019 7:55pm EDT
Hurricane Dorian
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Local companies rally to help the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian

Companies are stepping up to help those affected by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. FOX 29's Bruce Gordon reports.

CHESTER, Pa. - Local companies are stepping up to help those affected by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.  

RELATED:  5-year-old Bahamas boy swept away by wind after father puts him on roof to escape sharks amid Dorian

They arrived at a shipping warehouse on the Chester waterfront Tuesday morning. Delaware County’s Fraternal Order of Police teamed with the county's district attorney to collect supplies for the hurricane-ravaged Bahamas. 

Local companies will truck, store and ship the supplies to those in need in the Caribbean. The original plan was to send these goods to Florida; however, when Hurricane Dorian shifted direction so did the need.

“We move cargo every day, so for us, it’s pretty easy. The big thing is we’re helping people that need help that’s why we’re doing it," Mike Gerace with /M. Gerace Enterprises said.

The goal is to get water, ready-to-eat meals and toiletries into Freeport.  

“Getting people back to work there and to work the cranes and to work the terminal that’s going to be the really challenging part. These folks are in survival mode now," Dan Wackerman with John Streer Co. said.

Hurricane Dorian sat on Abaco Island and Grand Bahama for more than 20 hours, delivering punishing winds and massive flooding. Emergency crews are still finding bodies in the wreckage. 

Bahamian immigrant Remy Duncombe, of Philadelphia, is coordinating relief efforts here. Duncombe lost his cousin in the devastation. 

 “The roof came off and unfortunately he drowned in the water. The surge came up so high that he didn't make it," he said.

At the Reading terminal market, a new eatery called Careda’s Caribbean Cuisine is stepping up to help out. 

“It’s devastating. They lost everything," restaurant owner Careda Matthews said.

Matthews is Jamaican but over the weekend she created a special dish of seafood and dumplings at $15 a plate and she donated the proceeds.

If you wish to help those affected by Hurricane Dorian you can do so here, please write "For Dorian Relief."