Brooks Tropicals teams with U.N. for hurricane relief in Belize
Brooks Tropicals teams with U.N. for hurricane relief in Belize
After Hurricane Dean ravaged the countryside of northern Belize, Brooks Tropicals employees helped to distribute emergency food and supplies for the United Nations' UNICEF program. Brooks also sent crews and equipment to clean up debris and help repair homes in the area.
Working with the Belize Defense Force and the British military, 30 employees of Brooks Tropicals unloaded and repackaged over 120 metric tons of food including water, rice, protein biscuits and beans. This was quickly accomplished due to a standing agreement between Belize's National Emergency Management Organization and Brooks Tropicals to provide company resources during and after a national emergency.
Besides the emergency food distribution workforce, 20 other employees were dedicated to working debris clean up in the surrounding area. Other workers were teamed up to go out to the firm's papaya fields to set trees upright and plant new seedlings for future harvests.
Overall, eight army-sized trucks were put into hurricane-relief action. The trucks were evenly divided between emergency supply distribution and cleanup work. In a span of two weeks, the cleanup trucks were able to make two passes through the surrounding communities using cane loaders to lift debris into the trucks. Crews also helped their neighbors in restoring roofs, repairing windows and making other home repairs resulting from the storm.
Brooks Tropicals grows and packs Caribbean Red and Caribbean Sunrise papayas in Belize. Hurricane Dean temporarily halted papaya production, but company officials foresee a spring 2008 re-entry into the market.
Brooks replanted fields with nursery stock that is a result of five years of research and development. The company is excited about the great taste and shelf life found in the papayas that these seedlings produce.
"2008 will actually be a great year for us in Belize," Craig Wheeling, chief executive officer of Brooks Tropicals, said in a press release. "Hurricane Dean just gave us a late start. The year should end with record per-acre production of both Caribbean Reds and Caribbean Sunrise papayas."
Committed to doing business in Belize, Brooks Tropicals has resumed building a new headquarters complex for Fruta Bomba, and plans are moving forward to install a custom-built packing machine.
Working with the Belize Defense Force and the British military, 30 employees of Brooks Tropicals unloaded and repackaged over 120 metric tons of food including water, rice, protein biscuits and beans. This was quickly accomplished due to a standing agreement between Belize's National Emergency Management Organization and Brooks Tropicals to provide company resources during and after a national emergency.
Besides the emergency food distribution workforce, 20 other employees were dedicated to working debris clean up in the surrounding area. Other workers were teamed up to go out to the firm's papaya fields to set trees upright and plant new seedlings for future harvests.
Overall, eight army-sized trucks were put into hurricane-relief action. The trucks were evenly divided between emergency supply distribution and cleanup work. In a span of two weeks, the cleanup trucks were able to make two passes through the surrounding communities using cane loaders to lift debris into the trucks. Crews also helped their neighbors in restoring roofs, repairing windows and making other home repairs resulting from the storm.
Brooks Tropicals grows and packs Caribbean Red and Caribbean Sunrise papayas in Belize. Hurricane Dean temporarily halted papaya production, but company officials foresee a spring 2008 re-entry into the market.
Brooks replanted fields with nursery stock that is a result of five years of research and development. The company is excited about the great taste and shelf life found in the papayas that these seedlings produce.
"2008 will actually be a great year for us in Belize," Craig Wheeling, chief executive officer of Brooks Tropicals, said in a press release. "Hurricane Dean just gave us a late start. The year should end with record per-acre production of both Caribbean Reds and Caribbean Sunrise papayas."
Committed to doing business in Belize, Brooks Tropicals has resumed building a new headquarters complex for Fruta Bomba, and plans are moving forward to install a custom-built packing machine.
