Two 40-foot, two 20-foot containers for Maysak victims

Thanks to the overwhelming support of the community, two 40-foot containers and possibly two 20-foot containers will be shipped to the Federated States of Micronesia as part of the relief effort for Typhoon Maysak victims.

Maysak ripped through FSM in early April, resulting in more than 5,000 people in desperate need of food, emergency assistance, water, and shelter.

According to CNMI-FSM Typhoon Relief Effort Committee member Marcia “Ruri” Ayuyu, the 40-foot container at McDonald’s is now full because of the generous donations over the weekend.

Aside from in-kind donations, Ayuyu said they also collected about $1,500 in cash last weekend and that they will use the money to purchase rice.

“A lot of the farms, breadfruit trees, and other produce that they rely on have been destroyed and they are running out of rice down there because there are so many people in need of food. So we will purchase rice with the money we have and put it in the containers,” she said.

Ayuyu said the Joeten Kiyu Public Library’s containers will be used as well for donations made through the weekend, due to the limited space in the two containers used during the relief drive.

During the relief drive, one 40-foot container was provided for Chuuk and it received donations at the Garapan Fishing Base, while one 20-foot container was used at the Kilili Pavilion in Susupe and it will be bound for Yap.

“What I’m going to do is try and get another 20-foot container for the donations made to Yap because they told me that it is full already,” said Ayuyu.

Companies that contributed to the relief drive over the weekend were Triple J Motors Saipan, IT&E, Joeten Kiyu Public Library as well as other organizations and community members.

It included rice, bottled water, mostly clothing, rice, canned goods, and other non-perishable items.

“It was a very successful event and we’d like to thank the community for the big support to helping our neighboring islands and special thanks to KKMP, the administration of Gov. Eloy S. Inos, Sen. Sixto Igisomar, and Rep. Angel Demapan,” said Ayuyu.

Ayuyu noted that McDonald’s sales also did quite well over the weekend. This augurs well for the relief drive because a percentage of the restaurant’s sales during the weekend will be donated to the Chuuk relief drive.

“We are very busy in gathering all the donations so what I will do is take all the sales we made and work on them and we’ll let everyone know when it is ready,” said Ayuyu, who owns McDonald’s Saipan.

Deadline for donations to the Maysak relief drive is April 14. For more information or to donate to the relief drive, contact McDonald’s Middle Road at 235-8577 or McDonald’s Garapan at 233-8577.