Readers of this blog will know that my family goes back a long way visiting the Bahamas in general and the Abaco Islands in particular.  We had some exciting times, almost sending our ship to the bottom and riding out a storm.

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The fateful 1965 cruise of the Pem-Don I, from the time it left the Port of Palm Beach until it hit the reef.

This beautiful paradise, which looked like this when we visited:

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Hope Town harbour, 1965.

Now looks like this:

There are many people and organisations that are mobilizing to help with this, one I’m supporting is Mercy Chefs.

Mercy Chefs is led by Gary LeBlanc, who started out in the hospitality business as a bar tender at the Monteloene Hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  He started Mercy Chefs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and South Louisiana (another place I have family and business interest in.)  His mission is to set up a field kitchen (with South Louisiana calibre food) to feed first responders and those devastated by Hurricane Dorian.  He’s also working on getting water purification equipment into the Abaco Islands; clean water is essential for living.

I’m asking you to join me in supporting Mercy Chefs and their work in the Bahamas.

You can learn more about Mercy Chefs and donate here.