***Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1 and will run until Nov. 30. ***
WE CAN ONLY HELP WITH YOUR HELP
Thank you so much for your interest in learning more about Together Puerto Rico. We have only been able to accomplish our goals with the help of our volunteers and donors. We appreciate each and everyone of you and are so grateful for your support, contributions, social media likes/shares and for keeping Puerto Rico in your thoughts.
If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution, you can contact us for information about sending a check in the mail or by PayPal, or you can visit our Facebook page and click the “donate” button to make a donation by credit card.
DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS IN PUERTO RICO
LAST UPDATE – JUNE 20, 2020
Please see our News and Updates page for recent reports on our efforts. Thanks!
FEBRUARY 1, 2020 Update
I am happy to report that in the past few weeks Together Puerto Rico, with our supporters, donors, volunteers and partners – have distributed just shy of 1,000 solar lights (200 of those lights also had USB chargers) and 120 water filters to earthquake victims in the south of Puerto Rico. But there is still much work to be done!!!
We were able to reach so many people and obtain all these life-saving supplies from YOUR support, as well as from a generous donation from Amazon Disaster Relief. We will continue to buy solar lanterns and solar USB chargers and other needed supplies from the donations we have received – PEOPLE ARE SO HAPPY TO GET A SOLAR LIGHT!!! This small gift has a big impact on their life.
We went door-to-door, we went to several make-shift camps in several neighborhoods, and we went to the government run camps. We talked to a lot of people.
What we saw is that many people – thousands – are still sleeping outside of their homes, in their cars or in tents if they are lucky enough to have one. Earthquakes continue to happen daily. Last Saturday, after we had finished distributing solar lights and had sat down to eat some “pinchos” (BBQ chicken on a stick), another 5.0 quake happened. We were outside, but it was scary enough for us all to jump to our feet and look around … my SUV was rocking back forth dramatically. And I thought to myself, “Wow, I can’t imagine living like this day to day and of course I would be terrified to sleep in my home.” Even if a person’s home suffered no damage, their neighbor’s nice concrete house collapsed and it makes them worry the same could happen to them.
A Vietnam Veteran from the U.S. Army told us that this past month has been worse than the year he spent in Vietnam. He said, “at least in the war I had a gun. There is no defense against earthquakes.”
So many people have powerful stories. I feel fortunate to be able to talk to people and listen to them, because they really need to be heard and they really appreciate someone asking them how they are coping and feeling. I wish more people were able to go and listen to their stories and sit with them for 15 minutes, because that is the most important part.
As you can imagine with the multiple earthquakes, people are suffering from PTSD. We know our little solar lights can’t bring back homes, but they can help people feel a little safer and more secure at night and when they lose power (an ongoing problem).
We could not do this work without so many people helping!! Thank you to all of our partners and volunteers!! In addition to our own distribution efforts in Gaunica, Guayanilla and Ponce, we were able to partner with the following volunteers and organizations:
— Sordos Unidos (United Deaf Community) and they were instrumental in getting solar lanterns and solar chargers to hearing impaired people living high in the mountain regions. Imagine trying to communicate in the dark when you can’t hear! I can’t think of any group of people to whom the solar lights and solar chargers are more needed.
— Our friend and volunteer Marc Bowen and minister at Unitarian Universalist Puerto Rico was able to return to Guanica to deliver more solar lanterns.
— Our friends Mariangie Rosas and Oscar Ochart from CocoHaus were able to distribute solar lanterns.
— Our dedicated volunteer, Ivan Ruiz, was able to distribute solar lights and water filters in Peñuelas and Ponce with the help of several nutrition interns.
— Tango Whiskey PC-12 Squadron was able to take the supplies high up in the mountains of Yauco in their 4WD Jeep.
— And a shout out to Krista Noland who is always helping people in need – she took solar chargers/lights to two families who really needed them that were camping outside their home.
If you are interested in learning more about the situation in Puerto Rico, this is a good, recent article – https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/puerto-ricans-displaced-earthquakes-wait-safe-home-amid-roadblocks-delays-n1120941
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
https://www.facebook.com/togetherpuertorico/
@togetherpuertorico
https://twitter.com/TogetherPR787
We really appreciate your donations and support of our beautiful island – THANK YOU!!! <3
Jami Broom
Director
Together Puerto Rico
UPDATE: 01/13/2020 – Guánica, Puerto Rico
If it’s not multiple hurricanes, it’s multiple earthquakes! Our beautiful island and its inhabitants need a break!
Most of the serious damage so far has been to the south of the island, although the earthquakes have caused island-wide blackouts and cut off the water supply for several municipalities, including parts of San Juan, the capitol.
On the day after two of the biggest earthquakes that killed one person and left hundreds of homes inhabitable, Together Puerto Rico drove two hours south from San Juan and distributed the 70 solar lanterns we had on hand. It was not enough. We really need all the support we can get right now.
Families are not only without power, but also without shelter. A little light goes a long way.
Please consider a donation to support our efforts. Our organization is entirely run by volunteers only and there is no overhead – all donations go directly to the supplies we purchase wholesale at a nonprofit discounted rate.
An order of 150 solar lanterns arrived today and we will be distributing them this week. We also just ordered 240 more solar lanterns, with donations we received over the weekend.
Thank you everyone for your shares, cares and prayers! We could not do this without your support.
Below are some photos of our day at the coliseum in Guánica, which has become a food distribution site, where many families are sleeping on cots because either their home was destroyed or they fear it will be soon. People are also traumatized from the earth quakes and the after shocks, which are frequent.
Please see below for the timeline of a few of our efforts with photos.
A young Quebradillano that does not forget his roots.
In the afternoon today Ivan Ruiz with the non-profit organization Together Puerto Rico, delivered water filters and solar lanterns to over 40 families that reside in the Hacienda in the neighborhood of San Antonio.
This young man was raised in this community and wanted his neighbors to have this opportunity.
Ivan Ruíz maintained communication with staff of the Municipality of Quebradillas especially with Olga Nieves of the Office of Citizen Assistance and Manuel Lopez Valle of the Office of Recreation and Sports who was also a newcomer of this community.
Thank you Ivan for your social commitment to our people.
We also explain how these items help the environment by limiting plastic water bottle and battery waste. One man said his water comes out white and everyone was eager to learn how the filters work. What a great group of people! Thank you to everyone who volunteered and helped with this event! It was a great day!! ❤️❤️🙏🏽🙏🏽🇵🇷🇵🇷
UPDATE – JUNE 20, 2019
We are excited to announce our new program “Reenfoque Vital”, or ‘Vital Focus’. This program is essentially a combination of what we have been doing for nearly two years – delivering Sawyer Point One community water filters and MPowerd Luci Solar lanterns – but with more of an educational component focused on sustainability and eco-friendly ways of obtaining clean water and light. We want people to think beyond plastic water bottles and costly, wasteful batteries for flashlights, etc.
Last week our Team of Volunteers went to Bayamón, Puerto Rico as part of our Reenfoque Vital (Vital Focus) program to distribute water filters and solar lights door-to-door. We spend a good 15 minutes with each family, answering their questions and showing them how to use the filters, what it filters and how to clean it, as well as talking with them about the solar lantern and explaining how it works. These are life saving tools, not just during a hurricane, but now – when people don’t trust their water and suffer from frequent blackouts.
Everyone we talked to were very happy to get these life saving devices. Many of the households we visited were worried about another hurricane. (Hurricane season in Puerto Rico is from June 1st to December 1st)
Many people do not trust their tap water to drink and only buy bottled water. In addition, their lights go out frequently.
Our program teaches people about sustainability and more environmentally friendly ways to obtain clean water and use solar power.
Thank you so much to our WONDERFUL volunteers and these AMAZING people who let us in their homes and out of the heat, offering us drinks and letting us play with their puppies.
Thank you so much for your donations and for allowing us to continue this humbling work. As the pictures show, we are all very happy to help out in these communities and to meet these wonderful people.
Follow us on Facebook to see more photos and stay updated:
https://www.facebook.com/togetherpuertorico/
Together Puerto Rico
https://www.togetherpuertorico.com/
Together We Can Do So Much
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Hello, everyone! Just an update to let you know about the wonderful things happening, due mostly to your generosity and support! We are continuing our work around the island, bringing supplies and water filters and solar lights to families in need!
A couple weeks ago we went to Loiza, Puerto Rico, a northern coastal town (predominantly African American) that was suffering major damages from Hurricane Irma (which left 40 families homeless) when Hurricane Maria hit the island, making matters much worse for everyone. There we met up again with community leader Kenny Diaz who had requested solar lights as well as hygiene products like adult diapers, feminine products and toothpaste and soaps/shampoos. We were able to distribute 40 solar lights as well as hygiene products. This community had already been given water filters by our partner, Water for Puerto Rico / Agua Para Puerto Rico.
Currently we are working with our new partner Siempre Contigo (which means Always with You) and organizing our distribution efforts to be directed toward families who have seniors and bedridden people as well as single mothers and people who have been hard hit by the hurricane. These families especially need more assistance as medical costs are so high, time so valuable, and people with weaker immune systems need clean water. Siempre Contigo gave us a list of nearly 100 families that they have been helping in Puerto Rico since the storm and we are working on delivering the filters and solar lights to them.
This weekend we began going door-to-door around the island and into the mountains to distribute the water filters and solar lights.
We were able to recruit some AMAZING NEW VOLUNTEERS – who delivered water filters to Arecibo, PR, another coastal town. We were also able to reach one family who was in a very humble situation high in the mountains of Jayuya. We will continue recruiting volunteers for distribution this week and hopefully be able to reach all the families in the next few weeks.
In other news, we are SO GRATEFUL for the support of our donors and are happy to report a large sizable donation of $2,907 from the All Souls Unitarian Church. A special thanks to Rev. Mark Bowen who made that donation possible. I also woke to the HAPPY NEWS TODAY that we received a large donation from Adam Thodey of Lyons, CO who generously matched the donations he raised for his Summer Science Program (SummerScience.org) and donated them to @TogetherPuertoRico. THANK YOU. This means we will be able to reach so many more people and keep them healthy and safe.
Enjoy these photos – I wish I could add more to this GoFundMe update, but please visit, like and follow us on Facebook to see more photos and share our news! Thank you so much!! https://www.facebook.com/togetherpuertorico
The first photo is a group of neighbors in Loiza, PR we took solar lights and supplies. The other two photos are of our volunteer extraordinaire Jen Crowley who delivered water filters and solar lights in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
Together Puerto Rico is a 501(c)(3) charity, which means your donation is 100% tax deductible.
UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
It has almost been one year since Hurricane Maria hit our pretty island. Puerto Rico has become beautiful once again, but there are many obstacles – figuratively and literally – mainly politics/government and physical objects like telephone poles still falling and debris in too many places. People are still worried about having clean water and no electric, especially as hurricane season is here once again. Many people are still with only a blue tarp for a roof and still many have had so much damage, they may never be able to return home.
Yesterday I drove up the mountains to Ciales, PR with volunteer Angel Xavier to deliver 25 Sawyer Products water filters and 30 MPOWERD Inc. Luci solar lanterns to a Pastora Carmen Vázquez Median and her congregation at Iglesia De Dios Sube Al Monte. They told us their water comes out murky from the public water system and it is being powered by generators, with blackouts happening often. Needless to say, the water filters and solar lights were hugely appreciated – thanks to everyone who keeps supporting our efforts!! ❤️ Big thanks to everyone who made it possible! We purchased the solar lanterns and the filters were donated by high school students and Education4All from Mountain View, CA. Big thanks to Water for Puerto Rico / Agua para Puerto Rico for connecting us to the Pastor and finding us some buckets. ❤️❤️
Thank you all so much for contributing – any amount helps so much! Remember, we are merely volunteers – 90% of your tax deductible donations goes toward providing needed supplies to hurricane victims. We can not do it without you!
Please like us on Facebook and visit our website!
MAY 2018 – Maunabo, Puerto Rico
Maunabo, Puerto Rico
Together with our friend and amazing volunteer and nurse, Krista Noland, we traveled an hour south to Maunabo, Puerto Rico to help clean up the a house of a man with no legs, no running water and no electricity. Krista had been to his house previously and noticed how depressed he seemed and in poor living conditions.
The man was a little ambivalent about us being in his home but as soon as Krista pulled out a solar powered radio, he was ecstatic. He had a huge smile and was clapping and asking us if we liked salsa music. This guy was so bored and depressed – the radio was exactly what he needed. Who knew music was going to be the thing to bring light up his face?
Afterwards, we checked on some neighbors and distributed water filters to people in the neighborhood. One man had a noticeable eye infection and when
we inquired further he told us his water was yellow – his entire neighborhood had discolored water. So we took the rest of the filters to his neighborhood and plan to take some more back the next weekend.
The people in that neighborhood really wanted the filters and were very grateful we stopped to help. We were able to provide 20 Sawyer water filters, keeping people healthy and free from bacteria and infections.
The Sawyer filters are complex filters that get the worst kind of bacteria out of the water. They are community filters, in that they can filter five gallons of water in 20 minutes and they are good for about 100,000 gallons of water — that’s a LOT of water!
Big thanks to Water for Puerto Rico / Agua para Puerto Rico for the buckets for the filters!!
And huge thanks to Angel Xavier for translating and demonstrating how to use the filters!! And thanks to Krista Noland for driving, photos and organizing this effort! (Krista is following up with man on trying to get his electricity and water in working order.)
Together Puerto Rico
❤️❤️❤️
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JANUARY 2018 – Comerío, Puerto Rico
We partnered with Water for Puerto Rico / Agua para Puerto Rico, taking 20 solar lights to Comerío, Puerto Rico for distribution. We also spent the day pumping water from a river to be filtered by the Divvy System, supplied by Veterans 4.
Working as a volunteer, our Director of Operations is pumping water from the Divvy Water Filter System in Comerío, Puerto Rico
Other volunteers included Gloria Robles from Chicago and volunteers from the Church of Scientology.
Because of Hurricane Maria, many Puerto Ricans, especially in the mountainous areas, do not have running water or access to clean drinking water. Several deaths and nearly a hundred cases of leptospirosis, a water-born bacterial disease, have been confirmed in the aftermath of Maria.
We are ensuring that people who need it most are receiving water filters which reduce death, illness and bacterial disease, like salmonella and parasites.
DECEMBER 2017 – Canóvanas, Rio Grande and Florida, PR
Canóvanas, PR
Through Water for Puerto Rico, we partnered with a pastor in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico to distribute the water filters. We gave a demonstration on how to use the water filters and the pastor and his family helped us attach them to the buckets.
The next day, the pastor distributed the filters and buckets to people in his community. They were so grateful for the supplies!! They said that no one had been to their street yet – not FEMA, not the electric company and not even the mayor. They had severe damage to their homes, which had a beautiful view of El Yunque, the National rainforest.
The pastor’s family showed us video of their two story home being flooded. They had to escape out the back window and up a hill with snakes and centipedes and children on their backs. A true nightmare and they were still without electricity nearly 80 days later. The very next day they sent us photos of the people to whom they distributed the water filters and buckets and other supplies.
Canóvanas, PR – Together Puerto Rico partnered with a Pastor in Canóvanas for distribution of water filters and buckets to his community.
View of El Yunque U.S. National Rain Forest from the pastor’s home in Canóvanas, PR
RIO GRANDE, PR
Together Puerto Rico accompanied Bahia Beach Resort along with other volunteers in their Christmas activity in Rio Grande. Together Puerto Rico provided 40 💦 water filters and gave a demonstration on how to use the filters.
Other groups also distributed solar lights, children’s toys and other necessities were delivered in the activity. It was a great experience to be able to share and support this community affected by Hurricane Maria.
Water Filters for Rio Grande, PR
Florida, PR
We drove out to Florida, PR a mountainous town outside of Arecibo. People have not had electric there for a very long time! We distributed 35 of the water filters and buckets and gave everyone a demonstration on how to use them.
We also assisted Water for Puerto Rico with distributing other donated supplies and filtering water through the Divvy Water System, supplied by Veteran’s 4. Everyone was grateful for the supplies and especially the water filters – they went quick and I wish we had been able to bring them more!
Volunteers with the Divvy System for filtering water
Damage done by Hurricane Maria in Florida, PR
NOVEMBER 2017 – LAS PIEDRAS
Update from our Director of Operations from 11/18/2018:
There is much to be thankful for, even in the aftermath of devastation. Yesterday as I walked across a major highway bridge in San Juan I looked up to see a large flashing billboard sign that read simply “GRATITUDE”.
And that is how people truly feel here. I see people hugging more on the street and have heard them as I pass by “I’m so glad you’re alive! I haven’t seen you!” People are truly happy just to be alive and to see their friends are well.
We actually went to Las Piedras twice – the first time to deliver supplies and the second time to bring back the water filters.
On the first trip, I rode along with Water for Puerto Rico to offer them a hand. We distributed a lot of different supplies donated from different agencies. These people were so grateful that we showed up and that people care about them … no one has had electricity for well over two months. Many had lost their roofs and belongings. One woman was so happy we showed up with tarps … she said she had been praying for someone to bring her a tarp!
Seven months later Las Piedras was still without electricity. In April, the police had blocked the utility companies from leaving Las Piedras until they had restored power. Read about it in the Washington Post.
Leaning telephone poles on the way up to the mountainous area of Las Piedras
People’s belongings that were ruined. There were no garbage trucks taking away ruined materials so they were left to fester for rodents to explore and inhabit.
Telephone poles dangling over a line of cars – the cars were waiting for gasoline.
Sorting through supplies sent from Oregon for Puerto Rico
This was someone’s home.
Families making the best of their Sunday – relaxing in a nearby river.
SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2017
One week after Hurricane Maria, our Director of Operations landed in Puerto Rico with four suitcases full of disaster relief supplies (the maximum allowed by Delta) which were distributed by another board member/volunteer, who also happens to be a government health care worker.
Since she works from home in Puerto Rico full-time, she was displaced by Hurricane Maria to live in Tennessee with her cat and parents for six weeks as there was no electricity or internet connection. During that time, she enlisted volunteers and raised money online to purchase and ship supplies to others working in Puerto Rico on the ground, like Water for Puerto Rico.
This statement came from a volunteer who traveled with Water for Puerto Rico to Nauguabo, PR to deliver the 200 water filters Together Puerto Rico sent in late October:
“Thanks to your generosity we have been able to give food, clean water, and toiletries to people in need. One woman has a baby and lost her 14 year old to leptospirosis; that water filter was immensely appreciated.”
Water for Puerto Rico / Agua para Puerto Rico delivering supplies to people in Arecibo and Aibonito.
Water for Puerto Rico / Agua para Puerto Rico delivering supplies to people in Arecibo and Aibonito.
UPDATE: 10/29/2017
Together, we have been able to accomplish the following:
After Irma:
– Purchased personal hygiene items and clothing/shoes for evacuees of neighboring islands in Ashford Hospital ($235)
– Purchased and dropped off $700 worth of food, drinks, baby items, and personal hygiene items for evacuees of neighboring islands in Puerto Rico. These people were given free boarding at a local hotel, where we dropped off the supplies.
After Maria:
– Purchased and distributed 3 multi-gas stoves to families in need ($260)
– Distributed 25 solar lights and other solar supplies and 4 water filters to AIDS patients and health workers in Puerto Rico ($1,250)
– Shipped and distributed 200 Luci solar lights to families in need in a mountainous part of Puerto Rico, via the nonprofit organization Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas, PR. ($1,265)
– Shipped and distributed 200 Sawyer personal water filters to Water for Puerto Rico / Agua para Puerto Rico to be distributed to families in mountainous regions of Puerto Rico – Aibonito and Aguas Buenas. ($1,920)
– Shipped needed medical supplies to a Doctor’s office in PR – gloves, masks, alcohol swabs and water, plus two water filters and two solar panels for charging cell phones. ($160)