Category 4 Hurricane Maria is the worst storm to hit Puerto Rico in history causing unimaginable devastation. Many people have been left homeless, countless businesses destroyed, and the entire infrastructure has suffered. As of now all of the 1.5 million customers of the island’s power company are without service, which means there is no electricity grid for the 3.5 million residents. It appears it could be month’s before power is restored. More than ever Puerto Rico needs your help. Here are a few things you can do:
Unicef: The United Nations fund helps children affected by disaster, and donations go toward everything from clean water to school supplies.
Unidos Por Puerto Rico: Beatriz Rosselló, Puerto Rico’s First Lady, joined forces with local businesses to create this aid fund for survivors of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
Maria & Irma: Puerto Rico Real-time Recovery Fund: This Indiegogo campaign is being managed by ConPRmetidos, a think tank dedicated to promoting social change in Puerto Rico. You can see updates from the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on the page.
Be careful on making donations to the Red Cross. There are smaller and more local groups that need the help and will spend the money on what residents actually need..
You can research a charity or fund-raiser on sites like Charity Navigator, which rates groups on how efficiently they spend their funding and how open they are about how they spend donations.
