As Belize, a small country south of the Yucatan Peninsula, strains to recover from the October destruction of Hurricane Keith, Evanston is extending a helping hand from across the world.

The Evanston-Belize Sister City Committee is seeking hurricane relief donations from area businesses, churches and residents, said Evanston Fire Department Division Chief Samuel Hunter, who serves as the committee’s vice president. The category-three hurricane toppled homes, flooded roads and displaced families in Belize City.

“Since Evanston and Belize City are sister cities, we thought it was incumbent on us to help them after their run-in with Hurricane Keith,” he said. “The people don’t have a lot, and when a hurricane comes, they have even less.”

In its continued efforts to provide financial and material aid to hard-hit parts of Belize City, the committee on Saturday will raffle off a computer. The committee also asked for donations from area businesses, including Dominick’s, Jewel-Osco, Home Depot, Hinkley & Schmitt and Alliance food service.

“A lot of people have responded with canned goods, clothing,” Hunter said. “And some people have donated toys for the children.”

One business donated two power generators, but the committee is still waiting for replies from other businesses, Hunter said.

The partnership between Belize City and Evanston was revived in 1998 after an initial alliance in the 1980s, Hunter said. In 1998 an Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club member whose cousin was a member of the Belize City Rotary approached Mayor Lorraine Morton about re-opening the connection, and she approved it, Hunter said.

“We were trying to get some programs set up and, in the midst of that, we had this disaster happen,” he said.

Once the relief project is complete, the committee will refocus its efforts on cultural and practical exchanges between the two cities, such as meetings between the cities’ police departments, Hunter said. The committee also hopes to undertake service projects in Belize, including improving conditions at a Belize City orphanage.

“I’ve visited (Belize) three times, and one of my trips took me to the orphanage,” Hunter said. “These kids really have no playground, no swing set, no slides or anything like that.”

For committee member Vallen Whittaker, a native of Belize, the Belize-Evanston connection is more than a foreign exchange program; it is a chance to increase Evanston residents’ understanding of her home country.

There are a lot of Belizeans in Evanston, Whittaker said.

“We have to come together as one,” she said. “That was one of the reasons in joining the group — to enlighten and (make people) aware that we’re not just foreigners.”

Raffle tickets are on sale for $10. To donate, drop off items at the committee office, 1335 Dodge Ave., or contact Samuel Hunter at 866-5927.