Na’i Animu: Guam Relief Drive in Saipan preparing to ship first container of donations

Commissioner of Corrections Anthony Torres, who is spearheading Gov. Arnold Palacios’s Guam Relief Drive in the CNMI, said the generosity and outpour of charity from the people of the CNMI for Guam has been so great, a container full of food and other commodities will be shipping out Thursday, and another container is being filled right now.

“We started accepting donations at the Multipurpose Center (in Susupe) beginning Friday,” Mr. Torres said of the relief campaign, dubbed Nai’Animu, which roughly translates from Chamorro into “Give it all you’ve got.” “We filled that (first container) up yesterday. We’re going to get that picked up tomorrow and shipped off hopefully Thursday.”

“We’ve got bottled water, canned goods, rice, noodles, blankets, linen and pillows donated by World Resort and Kanoa Resort, a lot of blankets from local mom and pop stores,” Mr. Torres said about the filled container heading to Guam this week. “It’s been really overwhelming, the support we got.”

The commissioner has demanded the drive keep a master log of donations for accountability purposes. And while donors are identified from individuals to businesses and non-profit organizations, “Many of the donors wanted to remain anonymous.”

Yesterday, Saipan Sen. Celina Roberto Babauta placed Mr. Torres in contact with APL Guam general manager Charlie Hermosa to secure a second 40-foot container for the relief drive. “He made it happen in two hours,” Mr. Torres said of the time it took between the phone he placed to Mr. Hermosa to make the request, and the time the container arrived at the MPC. The commissioner hopes to have the second container filled and ready for shipment by Monday.

Commissioner Torres thanks all the volunteers from his agency and throughout the government and the Commonwealth for their support of the drive for Guam.