A ceremony was held at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) headquarters in Noumea today to hand over funds raised by its staff social club to the Red Cross Tropical Cyclone Pam appeal.
SPC staff have rallied behind their Ni-Vanuatu colleagues and the tens of thousands of people who must rebuild their lives in the wake of cyclone Pam by donating more than one million New Caledonian francs (CFP 1,170,000), as well as bags of clothing, linen, food and other essential daily items.
The President of the New Caledonian chapter of the French Red Cross, Jacqueline Johnston, received the cheque from the head of SPC’s social club, Fabrice Pellerin, on behalf of the Red Cross.
“I’m very pleased and impressed by this generous gesture from SPC staff,” Mrs Johnston said.
”This is one drop in the ocean towards the Red Cross efforts in Vanuatu and rest assured that all the drops add up and make it possible for us to make a meaningful difference for the people there,” she said.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vanuatu’s Consul General in New Caledonia, Raymond Manuake, said it was difficult to express his depth of gratitude for the generosity shown following cyclone Pam.
“In New Caledonia, the solidarity and efforts by institutions, provinces, town councils, non-governmental organisations and individuals to come to the aid of our Ni-Vanuatu has been unbelievable.
“I wish to sincerely thank the SPC social club for their contribution that we’re so grateful will assist the Red Cross in identifying and meeting the most urgent needs in Vanuatu,” Consul General Manuake said.
Additionally, the Consul General thanked SPC for its extensive satellite image analyses which was proving invaluable in informing decision-making for the emergency humanitarian response.
Media contact:
Christelle Lepers, SPC Information and Communication Officer, [email protected], +687 26 01 81 or 84 28 37