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• Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation donates US$100,000 to United Way of Trinidad & Tobago after recent floods

13 December, 2018

Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation donates US$100,000 to United Way of Trinidad & Tobago after recent floods

Over US $1M committed to projects across the region since the Foundation was launched in 2017

MIAMI, FL – December 13th 2018: Flood response and mitigation activities in Trinidad and Tobago will get a significant boost as the Cable and Wireless Charitable Foundation (CWCF), and Flow partner with the United Way of Trinidad and Tobago (UWTT) to donate US$100,000 to support a broad range of response programs across the island. The partnership will focus on rebuilding activities that specifically benefit vulnerable groups as well as a longer term awareness program to mitigate the impact of natural hazards. Speaking on the importance of this partnership and how his Company responded to the recent floods, Flow’s Country Manager, Ian Serrao said, “Immediately after the flood, Flow Trinidad initiated our disaster protocols to ensure our team members were safe and to ensure our customers would have access to critical communications services. We also activated our regional Foundation to support the broader humanitarian needs that have arisen. After several investigations, site visits and consultations we made the decision to partner with United Way of Trinidad and Tobago as the umbrella organization to manage the donation, given their extensive expertise in this area.”

UWTT’s CEO, Dr. Jennifer Sancho said, “We have learnt from our regional experiences with support in Haiti after the 2012 Earthquake and in 2017 with Hurricane Relief mainly in Dominica and also some of other Regional neighbours. Communities and families affected by disasters need our continued support beyond the immediate crisis stage. Flooding has become devastating and relentless because of our rapid growth and effects of climate change. Flooding is not a one-off event. We need to prepare for the months ahead. UWTT strategic advantage is that we are a partner for the medium to longer term recovery, as life assumes some level of normalcy, particularly for those affected.”

This latest donation to Trinidad and Tobago by CWCF brings the total amount committed to rebuilding efforts across the region to more than US$1M since the Foundation was launched just over a year ago. Over $750,000 is earmarked to rebuild and re-equip educational facilities in Dominica, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), and these longer-term projects follow a donation of $100,000 to Shelterbox that helped address the immediate needs of those affected by the 2017 hurricanes across the region. The Foundation is also supporting longer term and resiliency programs across the region and has donated $25,000 to PR4PR in Puerto Rico, $25,000 to Curacao Cares and $20,000 to Jamaica to support activities to build resiliency among youth and vulnerable communities.

“The needs of the region are quite significant”, said Denise Williams a Director at the Foundation and SVP Communications at Cable and Wireless. “This latest incident of flooding in Trinidad and Tobago demonstrates the vulnerability of our region and the need to come together to support a sustainable approach in building more resilient communities. We at the Foundation are proud to be part of the process. Our immediate priority is to help families and communities recover and get back to normal life but we are also focusing on longer term strategies and activities to mitigate against future natural hazards”.

The Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation supports programs that focus on recovery and mitigation activities across the region and is able to carry out its mission with generous support of its donors, employees and partners https://www.cwc.com/live/corporate-responsibility/cable-wireless-foundation.html

To find out more about the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation, visit cwc.com, or follow C&W Communications on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.