A collective of local and overseas businesses have teamed up to support WindReach in purchasing a much-needed Rough Terrain Vehicle [RTV], a Kubota SideKick.
A spokesperson said, “BEST Shipping, CTX and Stoltzfus Farm Equipment, a U.S. based supplier, have generously combined their resources to make this happen. Mr. Alex DeCouto, President of Greymane Ltd., was approached in early December by Mrs. Tina Nash, WindReach’s Executive Director with an inquiry into whether Greymane could assist WindReach with their need for a RTV that could be used to help maintain their 4-acre site, which includes fields and paddocks. Mr. DeCouto jumped into action and reached out to a few of his colleagues both locally and internationally and they eagerly agreed to support this philanthropic initiative.”
Mr. DeCouto stated, “Over the years I’ve been to WindReach many times for events, birthday parties, visits to the Animal Zone with my kids, etc., and knew about the great work that WindReach was doing for our special needs community.
“When Tina enquired about help sourcing a piece of equipment, we had just recently sourced a replacement forklift ourselves, so the process was fresh in my mind! Our company does a lot of business with Dean Stoltzfus at Stoltzfus Export, and he was eager to help. Stoltzfus Farm Equipment have also been doing a lot of business with Bermuda companies, and was keen to give back.
“I’ve known the principles of CTX and BEST since I was in high school and I was optimistic that they, too, would see this as a great opportunity to give back to the community in a tangible way.
“One of the aspects of the construction industry that keep many of us motivated is that there is ‘concrete’ evidence of your hard work and accomplishments, and so being able to organise a donation that we will literally be able to see in action and doing real ‘work’ on the property I think pulled at all the donors heartstrings. It certainly did mine!”
Mrs. Nash shared, “We are a stronger community when we all come together to meet the ongoing needs of our people. At WindReach, we have to maintain a 4.5 acre property with grounds and animals on 3 different levels. We really needed a new RTV to maintain our operations and animal health. The one we had was over 15 years old and was no longer fit for purpose.”
“As a charity that works with Bermuda’s most vulnerable population, WindReach relies on individual, corporate and government support to run their therapeutic and educational programmes for people living with special needs.
“I have known Alex for many years and have always admired, and appreciated, his ongoing efforts to support our community. I took a chance and make the ‘big ask’ and hoped for the best. Alex completely rose to the challenge and within hours, emailed me back with a proposed vehicle, several donor partners, and a solid plan on how they could make this work for us.”
Mrs. Nash continued, “When I told the WindReach Team about what was happening, it was like Christmas all over again. We are all so thankful and appreciative to Alex and the group of Donors for their support and encouragement and for demonstrating their appreciation for the important work that we do for our community.”
