Dear Diamante Family and Friends, As most of you are fully aware, Cabo San Lucas was struck by Hurricane Odile on Sunday, September 14th. We have heard from many of you and wanted to send you an update regarding the status of our staff, Diamante Members and guests, the Resort and Cabo San Lucas in general. Hurricane Odile was a strong, Category 3 hurricane when it hit and passed directly over Cabo. The resulting damage was significant, yet thankfully no fatalities were reported. Diamante Members and guests and your extended family and friends who work at Diamante are safe and conditions are improving each day. The initial days were very trying and people in the community continue to require the bare necessities. Many of their homes were damaged or destroyed and many have literally lost everything. Since the storm, the community has remained without water, electricity and has minimal food resources. However, today we have seen noticeable signs of a concerted Government effort to secure the community, and to commence distribution of food and water. We have also heard that over 2500 CFE employees have arrived over the last few days and are aggressively working on restoration of the electrical infrastructure. Members and Guests Diamante was fortunate in being able to provide adequate food, water, shelter and security for all of our Members and Guests. All have been evacuated safely from Los Cabos. We want to thank each of them for their patience and consideration during a very difficult time. Our Staff Numerous members have inquired about ways in which they might help the Diamante family and provide support for those in need and impacted by the hurricane. In response, and in cooperation with our lender Danske Bank, we have set up a “Diamante Employee Relief Fund”. The purpose of this Fund is to receive and distribute funds to employees to assist them and their families with the basic necessities of food and water and shelter. Any remaining funds will be distributed to assist employees in the repair of their homes or in finding alternative housing. Any and all contributions from you will be greatly appreciated, and we will apprise you of how the funds are distributed to benefit our staff. In order to initiate this effort, our Lender, Danske Bank, has pledged $100,000 to the Fund, and the Bank has once again proven to be a strong and committed financial partner. Its contribution and commitment are greatly appreciated. Any contributions that you would like to make in this effort should memo the “Diamante Employee Relief Fund” and can be sent using one of the following ways: 1. Online fundraising campaign through Youcaring https://youcaring/help-a-neighbor/diamante-employee-relief-fund/236380. 2. Send a check to the Connecticut office: Make check payable to Diamante Club, LLC Mail to: Diamante Club 131 Deer Hill Avenue, Suite B Danbury, CT 06810 Please memo check: Diamante Relief Fund 3. Wire or Deposit Funds directly: Account Name: Diamante Club, LLC Account #:8405659056 Bank Name: Wells Fargo Bank Address: 26 Church Hill Road Newtown, CT 06470 ABA: 121000248 SWIFT CODE (for non-US wires): WFBIUS6S 4. Credit Card Please call Isilda Pereira or Patti Formisano in the Connecticut office to process the charge through your credit card account U.S. Phone number: 203-794-1105. Or you can email hurricanerelief@diamantelife and include: Full Name: Amount of Donation: Credit card #: Expiration Date: CVV code: All contributions, no matter how small would be greatly appreciated. Diamante Jim McCullough, our General Manager, and a core group of the Diamante Executive team were on property during the storm to serve our Members and guests. Now that our Members have been evacuated safely, our team will remain on site as we undertake efforts to preserve and protect critical assets, assess damage and bring Diamante quickly back to its pre-hurricane status. Below is a summary of some of our latest efforts. · All 78 of our members and guests that were on property have now been evacuated and are safely home or soon to be at their final destinations. . In the face of some extraordinary circumstances, our staff remained dedicated to providing our guests with as much help and support as possible, and our members responded with understanding and patience as they endured the hurricane and its aftermath together. · Diamante has assessed damage to all of its buildings and facilities, and we are in the process of touring the property with our insurance adjusters. · For those of you who own homes at Diamante, our staff will be reaching out to you with photos and a written summary of any damages incurred at your residence. If you have your own insurance, please contact your insurers directly. · In the meantime, our construction team has undertaken the task of securing buildings, removing debris, and commencing repair of critical infrastructure onsite. · We used our back-up generators to preserve our guest experience while guests were onsite and to address needed power demand. · We are in the midst of preserving and securing resources to support our short-term critical needs and rebuilding efforts going forward. In the meantime, Diamante is and will remain closed at least through October. As soon as we have established a re-occupancy date, we will communicate it to all of you. We will be contacting all Members with reservations in October in order to reschedule your next Diamante vacation. We expect to have a better idea on the status of the November bookings in the coming few days, so those of you with planned vacations during that time will be hearing from us next week. On a personal note, I was on a plane to London for a regularly scheduled update with Danske Bank when the storm hit the Cabo San Lucas area. As difficult and as harrowing as the experience must have been, I felt as helpless as many of you have expressed by being thousands of miles away. I want to thank our dedicated staff for their extraordinary efforts over the last several days. Many of them have not yet left the property to check on their own homes. They have instead worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of the guests that were there, and to also begin the process of restoration so we all can enjoy an even better Diamante in the near future. I also want to thank all of you who have written and called to express your concern for Diamante and its staff. The fact that you all have been more concerned with the impact of the storm on our employees over and above anything else proves again to me that not only do we have the best staff, but we have the best membership as well. I pledge to all of you that we will collectively do everything in our power to make sure Diamante comes back quickly, and you have my personal commitment to make it stronger and better than it has ever been. We will continue to update you on a regular basis in this format and on our Facebook page. Until Diamante is up and running again, please direct any inquiries to our Connecticut office at 203-794-1105 or email diamanteinfo@diamantelife. Sincerely, Ken Jowdy
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 03:40:23 +0000
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