Turtle Island and its past guests along with friends and family have come together once again to help support the families in the Yasawas. In October 2021, Turtle Island delivered essential food and other supplies to help assist over 500 families from the Nacula and Yasawa districts.
With the recent outbreak in Fiji and almost two years of border closures, Turtle Island partnered with its past guests, friends, and associates of the resort to raise funds to support the 13 villages and 2 settlements in the community.
Turtle Island staff packaged and delivered six weeks’ worth of supplies directly to each of the families in the region. The packages included non-perishable foods such as rice, flour, cooking oil, dal soup, tea bags, sugar, and hygiene products such as toothpaste and washing soap powder. The items were gratefully received and will be a tremendous help in getting the families through this difficult time.
“This is the second food relief we’ve provided since the second Covid-19 wave hit Fiji in April 2021, which resulted in travel to and from our region and Viti Levu being restricted – affecting domestic tourism, fishermen and farmers ability to sell produce into the Lautoka area, as well as accessing urban supplies. We hoped to alleviate some of the challenges faced by our community by providing these food rations, as well to support the health and well-being of our community members by reducing the need to travel to and from Viti Levu – which in turn would further reduce the likelihood of Covid-19 reaching us before everyone had a chance to be vaccinated” said Turtle Island’s Managing Director, Richard Evanson, Jr.
Throughout the pandemic, Turtle Island has run a number of Covid-19 relief initiatives to help its local community. These have included donating essential supplies such as fishing and farming equipment to the villages, safely reuniting families through a repatriation programme, helping students go back to school, creating a bartering system with the villages as a means for acquiring fuel and food and helping drive vaccine awareness in the area.
Turtle Island has also supported its own team during the pandemic by committing to retain all its staff. The majority of our team have remained on the Island conducting ongoing maintenance, implementing additional sustainability initiatives and creating new guest experiences in readiness for the return of their international guests.
Turtle Island’s Managing Director, Richard Evanson Jr, said, “In true Fijian spirit, we’ll continue to help when and where we can and continue to monitor the challenges experienced by our community as a result of the pandemic, ensuring to do our best to assist those who are in most need. These initiatives will be funded by the recent donations so generously provided by our guests the world over, including donations from Turtle Island and the Evanson family.”
