By Anthony O. Miller
THE CYPRUS Central American Relief Effort (CARE) has received an overwhelming response in donated clothing, but desperately needs medicine and food, and thousands of dollars in cash to ship the mountain of goods that Cypriots have given to storm-torn Honduras, Carrie Hutton, the woman who started it all, said yesterday.
Volunteers last weekend packed over 3.5 tons of goods for shipment in the Latsia warehouses of Orbit Moving and Storage Ltd, outside Nicosia, Hutton said. Orbit is donating the space, boxes, tape and packing expertise.
More volunteers are needed this Saturday at about 9am at Orbit’s Latsia warehouses to finish packing another 3.5 tons of donations, all of which Mega Express has been hauling – free of charge – from Red Cross collection centres around Cyprus.
“Please, please, please,” begged Hutton, “can we have medicine, food and money – mostly money,” so Cyprus CARE can pay the shipping bills. The relief effort has more than enough clothing, almost too much, considering the huge cost – $25,000 – of shipping it to Honduras.
Cyprus CARE would gladly accept free passage aboard a Cyprus-owned freighter for the ten 40-foot containers full of brand new clothing – 390, 000 articles in all – that were donated by an anonymous Cypriot for the survivors of Hurricane Mitch.
Hutton said Cyprus CARE would also willingly accept free airplane cargo space with Cyprus Airways or any other carrier to fly some of the medicine and food she has collected, so it arrives in Honduras when she does, this Sunday.
British Airways is giving her a free extra 200-kilogram allowance for overweight baggage, so she can take urgently needed medicine and food to Honduras with her.
Cyprus CARE has collected about £2,000 in its Cyprus-pound account at Hellenic Bank, and a little less in its US-dollar account with the Bank of Cyprus, Hutton said. Local lawyer Stelios Triantafylides helped Hutton set up the two accounts.
Contributions in Cyprus pounds should be made payable to: “Rotary Club of Nicosia Aspelia C.A.R.E.” They should be deposited in Hellenic Bank account #121-10-079821-00.
US dollar contributions should be made payable jointly to: “Carrie Hutton and Alvaro Bonilla.” They should be deposited with the Bank of Cyprus in account #0130-41-06-021419.
Despite being a bit “cotton-headed” and sore from her pre-flight inoculations, Hutton ceaselessly worked the phones yesterday from her kitchen, answering Ashburton work calls (she forwarded her office phone to her home) between mobile-phone calls to arrange for more donations, packing and shipment.
Hutton spark-plugged the Cyprus-Honduran relief effort after being shocked by TV footage of the near-total devastation of Honduras by Hurricane Mitch, and learning the Cyprus was not doing anything officially to help relieve the suffering there.
Hutton’s quest is not only to help the survivors of the century’s worst storm, but also to try to find the woman who cared for her and her then- husband, their maid, Alba Umanzon, during their two years of living there.
Hutton, marketing manager at Ashburton Cyprus Ltd in Nicosia, managed to do her full-time job and organise CARE, which – with a lot of help from friends and strangers – has collected upwards of $400,000 in goods and cash donations in a mere two weeks.
