A vessel with nearly 90 containers of food, medical supplies, and other goods from Caribbean Community nations sailed out of Port Georgetown late Monday, headed to earthquake-ravaged Venezuela where nearly 4,000 people have died in the wake of the natural disaster late last month.

Officials say that the vessel is carrying supplies from Belize, The Bahamas, St. Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as part of a collective effort from regional member nations to support a neighbor during a tough period.

The ship is also taking 300 black plastic water tanks and two heavy duty excavators to help relief workers from around the world to remove rubble from collapsed buildings as the operation has switched from a rescue to an effort to recover bodies.

Finance Minister Ashini Singh and other officials who watched as the vessel left Port Georgetown, praised the response from both local and regional organizations.

“We saw a significant government effort, but we also saw a remarkable response by the Guyanese private sector. We saw a remarkable response by Guyanese citizens. We saw a remarkable response by Venezuelan citizens living in Guyana. I referred earlier to the effort as a national and regional effort, because President Irfaan Ali also reached out to his CARICOM counterparts, heads of government across CARICOM- and several of his counterparts across CARICOM responded favorably,” the minister told reporters.

The regional contribution will be delivered to senior American relief officials on the ground in Venezuela, as “we are in close contact with our U.S. counterparts who have a presence on the ground, and so these goods will be delivered to the U.S. team that is present in Venezuela for consolidation into the broader mobilization effort and for deployment in an optimal manner for the benefit of the Venezuelan people,” Singh stated.

And in a remarkable gesture, finance-starved Haiti is also pitching by sending 29 highly trained medical specialists in key areas such as orthopedics, surgery, anesthesiology, gynecology, and internal medicine.

Ravaged by nearly five years of attacks from heavily armed insurgent groups attacking state institutions, Haitian officials say that they nevertheless felt the need to contribute and have included 5.5 tons of essential medical supplies to Venezuela.

“We did not come here to deliver leftovers, but to share what little we have with the Bolivarian people of Venezuela, as a sign of solidarity and fraternity. We did not send a consultative delegation. We came with specialists ready to make themselves available to the Venezuelan government for 15, 20, or 30 days, or even as long as necessary," said Health Minister Sinal Bertrand.