PwC in the Caribbean and the PwC Charitable Foundation have collectively donated $100,000 to disaster relief and recovery efforts in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

On 9 April, the La Soufriere volcano erupted, sending ash and gas plumes miles into the sky and affecting neighbouring islands. The disaster has displaced about 20,000 people and left the population of 110,000 people without clean drinking water or electricity.

PwC firms operating in the Caribbean contributed a total of $60,000. The funds were raised by the partners and staff of PwC firms in Bermuda, The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, East Caribbean (Barbados and St Lucia), Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

In addition, The PwC Charitable Foundation approved a grant of $30,000 to the St Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross, through the American Red Cross. And a donation of $10,000 was made by L&F Indemnity Limited, the Bermuda-based captive insurance company for the PricewaterhouseCoopers network of firms.

The funds are being donated to local and international organisations including the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

Frazer Lindsay, chief executive officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers Caribbean Region Ltd, said: “We stand in solidarity with the people of St Vincent and everyone affected by La Soufriere’s eruption. As we have done in the past with natural disasters in our region, our people have rallied quickly to demonstrate our support for those most in need and we thank them for their tremendous efforts.”

Scott Watson-Brown, partner and corporate social responsibility leader, PwC Bermuda, said: “The volcanic eruptions have taken a devastating economic, social and environmental toll on St Vincent. We are grateful to our people for stepping up to support international disaster relief efforts in the region as it faces a growing humanitarian crisis.”

Greg Galeaz, CEO and director of L&F said, “L&F and our staff are pleased to contribute to PwC's donation to support relief efforts in the region. Our thoughts are with the people of St Vincent as they face this crisis in the midst of the public health emergency over Covid-19.”