Noumea, New Caledonia – Following tropical cyclone Winston, the Social Club at the Pacific Community (SPC) headquarters initiated a staff collection, raising 683,500 CFP (FJD 13,000) to assist Fiji.
A cheque for this amount was today handed over to the President of the Red Cross of New Caledonia, Jacqueline Johnston, by the President of SPC’s Social Club, Philippe Amiot, and its Vice President, Thibaut Torche, on behalf of SPC’s entire workforce in Noumea.
The funds will be used by the Red Cross to contribute to the Fiji government’s reconstruction efforts.
“Once again, it is with much gratitude that I accept this donation on behalf of the Red Cross, and thank the SPC staff who have shown unfailing generosity and solidarity towards the victims of Cyclone Winston,” Ms Johnston said.
“SPC staff have shown themselves to be as generous as last year, illustrated by their charitable donation to the New Caledonia Red Cross to assist our recovery efforts following tropical cyclone Pam.
“We are aware of what this gift means for all of you at SPC who have friends, colleagues and family in Fiji, and we know how you have been affected by this disaster,” she concluded.
SPC has a special connection with Fiji, given that more than half of the organisation’s staff is based there.
“We were very touched by the tragedy that occurred in Fiji because many of our colleagues there are working with great dedication,” Mr Amiot said.
“After the cyclone, we launched an appeal for donations, as our Social Club does every time a tragedy occurs in the region. We have witnessed an extraordinary outpouring of generosity from our staff, since we collected nearly 700,000 CFP, all of which has been donated to the Red Cross.”
In 2015, after the passage of cyclone Pam, the Social Club gathered 1,300,000 CFP, which we donated to the Red Cross, Mr Amiot recalled.
SPC is providing a range of practical support to the authorities in Fiji to assist their cyclone Winston recovery efforts, and plans to provide longer-term scientific and technical assistance, based on the government’s specific needs. See the Spatial Data Resources Portal.
SPC is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, proudly supporting development since 1947. It has staff social clubs in New Caledonia and Fiji.
Media contacts:
Philippe Amiot, President of the SPC Social Club (Noumea) [email protected]
Thibaut Torche, Vice President of SPC Social Club (Noumea) [email protected]