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| Some of
the workers at the Fire Victims Benefit
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Just minutes after the devastating fire was over on Friday a group of
concerned locals started planning ways of helping the victims of this
tragedy. The word spread quickly and by morning a plan for a fundraiser
was in progress. The San Pedro Town Board offered its full support as did
the office of Honorable Patty Arceo, the San Pedro Lions Club and its
auxiliaries and hundreds of concerned citizens. A team was quickly put
together to ask for donations of food to be sold. The San Pedro Town
Board offered all the proceeds of the bar, the Lions Club offered to
barbecue for the food sale and hundreds of locals provided food.
On Sunday morning a live broadcast by
Radio Arecife at Central Park announced the fundraiser's goal to
collect $40,000 by sunset. As was expected, the people of San Pedro came
out in full force with their cash donations, pledges and even personal
valuables to be raffled. By midday, Central Park was the location of
everyone who cared, despite the heavy rains. As the rains cleared, people
kept arriving with their donations. Entertainment during the benefit was
provided by Dennis Wolfe, Barefoot Skinny, Ramon "Memo" Guerrero, Los
Niños de la Punta, Celeste Phillips, Unity Band and Barbara's Dance
Group. Constant loud cheers from the crowd signaled more donations coming
in. Before sunset the targeted amount had been achieved and surpassed. As
the announcements and donations continued, a deep feeling of unity and
love was sensed in the crowd. Bingo Domingo, which is usually held
Sundays at the Hide-a-way Hotel, moved to the Park and the games were
played with the proceeds going to the fire victims. Celeste Phillips
worked tirelessly in organizing this main event with the grand prize
being a surveyed lot donated by Belize Rural South.
After dark the crowd was still out in full
support and at the end a grand total of over $72,000 worth of cash,
pledges and material donations had been received. As of press time,
donations were still coming in bringing the total even higher. An
impartial group and organization, namely the Board of Director of the San
Pedro Lions Club, has been put in charge of looking into the needs of the
individual victims and dispersing the donations. Honorable Patty Arceo
told the San Pedro Sun that she has come
up with a recommendation that consists of the following. "We will start
to conduct inspections of house wiring since many houses were wired by
unlicensed electricians. It is believed that faulty wiring was what may
have started the fire, so we have to take precautionary measures to
ensure the safety of the people of San Pedro. We will also be getting a
new fire truck on the island by the end of January 2000."
The people of San Pedro once again showed
their kindness and gave from their hearts for the victims of the fire
proving that they are truly unified. Way to go San Pedro! You are a
unique and admirable community.
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