Minority Chamber of Commerce seeks relief for hurricane devastated Cuba

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

“Entrepreneurs in Miami ask that the Cuban and American governments support the aid plan to help victims of Hurricane Ike in Cuba, Minority Companies and Interfaith leaders in Southern Florida host a press conference to call for an end to the collective punishment for Cubans”

Miami, Florida, September 13, 2008

The Minority Chamber of Commerce in Miami, together with others non-profit organizations, Cuba Links, and Evangelical Christian churches in south Florida have joined in a humanitarian effort to offer assistance to the victims of hurricane Ike in Cuba. The plan is to provide assistance to the hardest hit regions in this Caribbean nation.

Douglas Mayorga, Director of the Minority Chamber of Commerce said that the Evangelical Christian churches in Cuba have evaluated the damage caused by hurricane “Ike” and have concluded that the damages caused are beyond imaginable. “We make a call to the governments of Cuba and the United States to help us in this humanitarian effort by allowing us to give aid to the victims of hurricane “Ike”. We make a call to the government of the United States to approve the quantity and content of this aid packet that is prepared to arrive in Cuba on September 23, 2008, and Cuba government to authorize our arriving for an independent local logistic.

Mayorga said that due to the dire circumstances, a plan has been created whereby the aid is to be distributed to the victims directly. “We asked to be given permission to take an airplane that will carry non-perishable items, construction materials, medical equipment, beds, blankets, medicine against malaria treatments. All these items are to be in the provinces of Holguin and Pinar del Rio, the hardest hit areas of hurricane “Ike”. "This is not a political issue; it is a human issue," said Mr. Mayorga, “I appeal that you let the politicians know about the suffering of the Cuban people."

Cuba Link, a non-profit organization, headed by Rev. Pastor, Gustavo Abreira, said, “We will arrive in Cuba, with a strategized plan, where we will focus the distribution of our donations in the provinces of Pinar del Rio and Holguin. Once there, we will travel to different sites within the provinces to bring aid to the neighborhoods in accordance to what has been planned with the Evangelical Christian churches of those communities”, Moreover, he said, “the aid comprises of essential items: roofing materials, non-perishable items such as milk and purified water, as well as medicine for the cough, fever, and diarrhea. It should be kept in mind that these people have been left without clothes or shoes”

The minority chamber of commerce, Cuba Link, and dozens of local Evangelical Christian churches have united in this humanitarian effort and have organized a chain-prayer so that these organizations be given the approval of both the Cuban and American government to bring aid to those in need.

For more information, or to RSVP, please contact: relations@minoritychamber.net 786-260-1965

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