Bacardi pledges $1m to Dorian disaster relief

Following the devastating impact of Hurricane Dorian on the Bahamas, Bacardi Limited and the Bacardí family have donated $1m in cash and other assistance to the disaster relief efforts.

Bacardi will collaborate with non-profit partners and the Bahamian government to ensure that this cash donation provides immediate and long-term assistance to local relief agencies.

The company has also organised an employee drive to collect items for those in need as well as communicated a website to provide cash donations to a global humanitarian partner.

Bacardi has a long relationship with the Bahamas, which became its adopted home in the early 1960s when the company moved there after the revolutionary government forces in Cuba illegally confiscated all assets in Cuba from Bacardi.

“We have never forgotten the incredible kindness of the Bahamian people and the important role they played in the history of our company,” said Facundo L. Bacardi, Chairman of family-owned Bacardi Limited. “We hope in a small way to contribute to the rebuilding of this great country in the face of this tragedy just as the Bahamas helped Bacardi rebuild nearly 60 years ago.”

The company produced its rum in the Bahamas for nearly 50 years and many Bacardi family members still have roots in the islands.

Company founder and Bacardi rum creator Don Facundo Bacardí Massó began the company’s tradition of corporate responsibility in 1862 when he volunteered as the chief organizer of disaster relief in his hometown of Santiago de Cuba after a horrific earthquake. Since then, the Bacardí family and company have continued to build upon his commitment to assist in times of catastrophic natural disasters.

In 2017, in the wake of the destruction wrought by Hurricanes Maria and Irma, as well as the earthquakes in Mexico, Bacardi committed a total of $3m to relief efforts in Puerto Rico, Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Bahamas. In recent years, Bacardi has also made donations to aid organisations supporting relief efforts in Southeast Asia, China, Australia, Italy, Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, Chile and the US.