THE DEVASTATING IMPACT of Hurricane Irma on parts of the Caribbean were keenly felt by one of Moray College UHI’s professional cookery students over the last week.
Mezz Mcauslan – who last year won the ‘Student of the Year’ award at the Elgin campus – had family members who were directly affected when the Hurricane struck the island of St Martin.
Thankfully the two families are now all safe having been evacuated off the island – and they are now staying with Mezz in her family home in Rothes as work continues to restore their home island to some sort of normality.
Unfortunately, all their personal belongings were lost in the disaster – leaving Mezz with 12 family members living in a small house having arrived in safety but with absolutely no possesions.
That has been huge – and has provided a very stressful start to her HNC year at college.
A spokesman at the college told insideMORAY: “The Hospitality and Tourism Academy are keen to support her in any way possible – she has set up a crowdfunding page and the hospitality team would be grateful for any contribution that you can make to help this family.
“Mezz is a key member of her class, always keen and smiling, no matter what. So we would all be delighted if people felt they could help by making a donation or even just popping any change into a collection box at the Beechtree Restaurant in the College. Our hospitality students will also be donating all their tips to support the families.”