Most of the money that the Fiji Red Cross spends to provide immediate relief to affected Fijians and communities are from donations.

Red Cross Director General Filipe Nainoca says they carry out various fundraising activities to supplement these donations.

Nainoca says the generosity of people over the years has continued to enable them to prepare and respond to the many needs of Fijians affected during and after disasters.

“The money that we spend come from people who donate to us to help us respond during the time of disasters. This year we’ve received assistance from International Federation of the Red Cross. And of course in TC Winston we had assistance from businesses and people as well who helped us.”

Meanwhile, the Red Cross says the amount of money that was spent post Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016 was around five million dollars.

Nainoca says this went down to four million last year and this year, they have a budget of $3.7m.

80% of this is focused on building resilient communities and people.