The General Manager of Fiji’s Wananavu Resort knows just how much it takes to recover from an earthquake.

GM Ben Plummer grew up in the Solomon Islands and was in Honiara when the ‘big one’ hit in 1977.  Having felt and seen the destruction, he immediately created a fundraiser, which turned out to be the first of many that he was involved in.  With the recent Japan quake, Ben and his staff at Wananavu felt compelled to help.

“I raised money in Sydney for the Australian Red Cross Appeals for both the Turkish earthquake in 1999 and the Gujarat earthquake in 2001 – my friends started calling me Rumbles Plummer!”

With the aim of raising $50,000 for victims of Japan, “Rumbles Plummer” and his team have organised a fundraiser event to be held at the Wananavu resort on Saturday April 30^th.  Tickets for the event are $100 per person, with $50 of the ticket price going directly to the Red Cross appeal to help Japan. Accommodation packages are also available.

The event will include fine food and entertainment throughout the evening as well as silent & live auctions on the night to raise money for Japan.   Local Fiji businesses have shown tremendous support of the Wananavu event by providing  a range of items for the auction, including spending a day with the Digicel Fiji 7’s Rugby Team, 2 nights for two at Turtle Island, Golf and Lunch for 4 at Natadola and a Hot Air Balloon flight for two from Adrenalin, plus many more.

For those who can’t attend the event, email bids are accepted on the auction items simply by sending an email with your bid to stay@wananavu.com.   For those people who would like to donate an auction item or make a financial contribution to the cause, they can send their phone number in an email and the Wananavu team will be in contact.

Ben and his team are calling on the Fiji community and the tourism industry to help make a difference to the devastation caused by the Japan quake.

With his experience in helping so many earthquake victims in the past, he understands how important it is to continue to provide on-going support in the weeks and months following a large earthquake.

“They still need our help,” says Plummer, “Unfortunately it’s become quite fashionable to pledge support right at the beginning of a disaster and then either forget about it or, even worse, to not come though on that much needed pledge.”