Hurricane Dorian: Jacksonville donor anonymously buys about 100 generators for Bahamas, goes viral
Beth Reese Cravey @BethReeseCravey
Sep 5, 2019 at 1:56 PM Sep 5, 2019 at 4:55 PM
The donor paid almost $50,000 for supplies at Costco, while a fellow shopper witnessed the purchases and told the world on Facebook. The donor went through the United Way to connect with the right people.
A Jacksonville man who spent almost $50,000 at a local Costco buying about 100 generators and other supplies for Hurricane Dorian relief efforts in the devastated Bahamas wants to remain anonymous.
But his good deed was witnessed by another shopper who posted about it on Facebook. And the post has gone viral.
Good deeds are not unusual for the man, who is a member of the United Way of Northeast Florida's most influential giving group, the Tocqueville Society. Donors give at least $10,000 a year.
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"We're committed to connecting people to the causes they care about. When this donor called and asked if we could assist with his desire to help the people of the Bahamas, we jumped in to facilitate the purchase of emergency equipment and food, which will be shipped to the islands tomorrow [Friday]," said United Way spokeswoman Sarah Henderson. "We are proud to help connect the incredible generosity of a local donor to the urgent needs of those in crisis in the Bahamas."
"This is what he had to say, 'This could not have been possible without all my friends and United Way of Northeast Florida,'" she said. "The generators, chainsaws and six tons of foodstuffs will be delivered via a small boat flotilla to Marsh Harbor. It's our understanding a flotilla of boats will be delivering the heavier supplies. The lighter supplies will be by air."
The donor regularly supports causes that help others.
"He is incredible," Henderson said.
Alec Sprague was the fellow Costco shopper who made the donor famous.
"All I could do was shake his hand and thank him! There still are good people in the world," he wrote on Facebook.
Henderson said the donor has a "team" that is coordinating getting the supplies to the Bahamas. Part of that team is Errol Thurston, who owns a boating and fishing guide company in the Bahamas and leads the Errol Thurston Bahamas Hurricane Relief Fund (tinyurl.com/y4mnslhz). He lives in Marsh Harbor but was in Florida at the time of the storm.
The relief effort, he said on a video posted on his Facebook page, will help all the Bahama islands.
"We are trying to help as many people as we can. We're all in this together," he said. "We're all one people."
Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109