KW-based med student in St. Vincent collecting funds to help evacuees after volcanic eruptions

Thousands of people have been displaced and are in urgent need of basic necessities following a devastating La Soufrière volcanic eruption on the island of St. Vincent.

Now, a med student, who is originally from Kitchener, is hoping to help raise funds so she can provide aid directly to those affected.

Claire Matlock travelled to St. Vincent in early December after accepting a scholarship to continue her medical school studies in the Caribbean.

She said after a volcanic eruption devastated the small island, she could not just sit aside and not do anything to help.

So she has partnered up with her friend, Anna Vanhoof, to try and collect funds.

“I made an Instagram Story. I said 'Hi friends, I can't study. I can't focus. A little money goes a long way down here. If you want to chip in $5 and send it to me by e-transfer,' and we've been buying bags of rice and formula and sanitary items, and running around in my friend's car.”

Matlock said the best way to help right now is to send money.

“The best we can do is run to the grocery store and buy up all the water and toilet paper and canned goods. With e-transfers, it is very direct. Somebody sends us money and we go straight to the stores and then we deliver food to shelters and homes.”

She said they are working closely with Vincentians who need help.

“Everyone is safe, we've had no casualties yet, but people are just without homes, without water and food and clothes and supplies. It's very basic right now. That being said, a lot of us that are on the ground, our dream is to work with Doctors Without Borders in the future. So this is just a little taste of that, but not in the medical context.”

You can directly send Matlock an e-transfer through her email address — clairematlock@gmail.com.