Hen party turns to Dorian effort

The Bahamas is receiving helping from many sources after the passing of Hurricane Dorian and one of the most heart-warming is from an American woman who was going to have her hen party there.

Rikki Kahley was all set to celebrate her hen party in the Bahamas until Dorian hit the islands. But instead of cancelling her trip, the US bride-to-be decided to forge ahead, turning her bachelorette shindig into a relief mission for storm survivors.

The woman and her friends have just taken 40 bags of relief supplies to the ravaged archipelago. Dorian, a category five hurricane, battered the Bahamas earlier this month, killing at least 50 people.

Ms Kahley, who is from Macon, Georgia, had booked her Sept. 12-15 trip with family and friends in April.

After the storm hit the 24-year-old decided not to call off her holiday when she heard how much the islands still needed tourism. Her sister suggested issuing an appeal for donations, which went viral.

Ms Kahley said: "We were worried about whether it was possible to still go and also we wanted to figure out what we could do to help. My sister Chloe had the idea to take stuff over and so we shared posts on Facebook, and it spiralled from there. Our friends and family wanted to donate, and then more and more people got in touch."

They approached Delta Airlines, which waived the baggage fees for their flight the day before they were set to travel.

Ms Kahley - who is getting married on Oct. 26 - said: "We got to Nassau and the Grand Hyatt hotel sent a special bus to come pick us up as we had so many bags with us. There were 10 of us, and including our personal bags as well as the donated ones, that was at least 50 bags we carried to the island."

She said she felt sad for the hurricane-ravaged community but would definitely return as she loved the destination so much.