Hurricane Maria Anniversary and 2020 Progress in Building Community

September 20th marked the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Maria, which resulted in 4,645 people losing their lives (the “official” number).

It can take several years to recover from devastating hurricanes like Maria, especially when other disasters are happening simultaneously around the world, like the fires in the U.S., Covid-19, and of course … earthquakes.

2020 has been a significant year for everyone, a sad year, but still a hopeful one. Hopeful … in that we can expect our worries, suffering and humility will produce introspection, compassion and gratitude – things we all could all stand to use around the globe to bring us closer together. Hopeful … in that we can use those tools to overcome our fears and love one another more deeply. Hopeful … in that we can use that love to lift us up and produce lasting change that will propel society into a better world for everyone.

I am so grateful and humbled to be able to do this work and see first-hand the not only the need and the stress and the worry, but the hope on people’s faces. People are hopeful and part of that is because they

see good things going on in their community and see people helping one another. When they stop seeing good people helping one another is when there is real trouble.

In 2020, Together Puerto Rico made some significant milestones in partnering with other agencies and also in receiving donations from supporters (like you!). This support has enabled us to reach out to help alleviate stress and worry Puerto Ricans face by providing much needed disaster relief supplies.

Our partners have included wonderful organizations like Tenedor Social, Inc., who provides weekly homemade, hot and healthy meals to families on the east part of the island, Sordos Unidos (‘Deaf United’), who provides support and human services to the deaf community around Puerto Rico and especially in the south part of Puerto Rico. Other partners include Fundacion Educativa CAF, The Tango Whiskey PC-12 Squadron and Alecena Feminista Food Pantry. These partners have been instrumental in distributing supplies to people who need them the most.

Our volunteers, like nutritionist Ivan Ruiz, have taken the initiative to get supplies to senior citizens and U.S. veterans, like in small private nursing homes who do not have supplies or masks for the patients and care takers. Over 2,000 masks were distributed, along with hand sanitizer, latex gloves and solar lanterns. This project impacted 160 employees, 218 patients who are non-veterans and nearly 200 veterans throughout 19 nursing homes across Puerto Rico. 

We have also received in-kind donations like 7,500 KN95 masks from Integro Foundation, 100 water filters and 520 solar lights from the Amazon Disaster Relief Fund.

In addition, we received financial support from community organizations like the and individual giving and online donations. Dozens of people have set up fundraisers for TPR on Facebook. We are so grateful to have this kind of community support and trust in our ability to efficiently provide services and supplies to people in need.

The earthquakes, Covid-19, and a very active hurricane season has kept us very busy. Fortunately, so far, only one tropical storm has directly impacted Puerto Rico, causing hundreds of thousands to lose power for days, if not a week or more.

So far in 2020, we have distributed:

• 6,060 masks;
• 2,268 solar lanterns and USB chargers;
• 388 bottles of hand sanitizer, and;
• 170 water filters.

We are still working to distribute supplies throughout Puerto Rico and purchase additional supplies for the remainder of 2020.

We plan on continuing our work in helping prepare people for disasters and Covid-19 as our organization and support grows.

We thank each and everyone of you for making this work possible and for your generosity. 

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