The new school season has brought much joy: friends reunited, autumn sports commencing, exciting new courses, and of course, a wave of fresh faces at Berkeley Carroll. Unfortunately, the new school season outside of Berkeley Carroll is not all smiles and laughter: the devastating hurricanes which have destroyed parts of Florida and Texas are making this September the worst in history for the victims of this terrifying natural disaster.

Of course we care deeply about the devastation in Texas and Florida, to think that something so awful could happen so close to home is hard to comprehend. However, these recent hurricanes have caused horrifying scenes not exclusively to North America. Caribbean islands, such as Antigua, Barbuda, St Martin and St Kitts, just to name a few, have been wrecked by this latest natural disaster. Charles Fernandez, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Antigua and Barbuda has said that the hurricanes have destroyed “upwards of 90%” of both islands. Many people have been left homeless with nowhere else to go. Annick Girardi, the Overseas Affairs Minister for France, confirmed to CNN that at least two people on the island of St Barts have died. The disaster has not only swept away people’s homes, but it has completely ruined the infrastructure on the Caribbean Islands, leaving the people with no power, electricity, or public water. Because there is not power on the island, there is currently no telling the exact severity of the damage to the island of Barbuda after Irma.

It seems far-fetched to think that we in Brooklyn can have an impact on helping these islands recover. Yet we can! The BC Spirit Squad have hand-picked a truly wonderful charity that they will be fundraising for over the next couple of weeks. The charity, GlobalGiving, is a non-profit organization that dedicates its work to making sure that worthy causes all over the world are benefiting from them. The Spirit Squad chose GlobalGiving because the devastation of the Caribbean Islands was and is not highly publicized in the United States media, meaning that most people have primarily donated to charities focused on rebuilding Texas and Florida. However, being a worldly platform, GlobalGiving has donation pages on its website for all areas that have been affected by the hurricanes. That is why as a team, the Spirit Squad chose to give the money they raise to such an incredible organization that they are very proud and happy to be supporting.

If you would like to help the cause, there is a donations box on the front desk in the lobby, and members of the Spirit Squad are selling 3 dollar (2 for 5) raffle tickets to faculty and students. Please do not hesitate to pop some spare cash into the donations box or approach a member of the Spirit Squad for raffle tickets!

Happy October

and don’t forget to donate!