NEW YORK’S LEADING PUERTO RICAN AND HISPANIC NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS JOIN FORCES TO WAGE A CAMPAIGN TO HELP PUERTO RICO RECOVER AND REBUILD
Established immediate partnership with Daddy Yankee to collect emergency supplies at concerts in New York City, Chicago and Connecticut
Organizations are grateful for strong, initial response from donors and volunteers, whose efforts helped connect loved-one and yield five containers worth of supplies to be shipped to Puerto Rico
Ongoing support and commitment is needed to sustain efforts rebuild over the long term
SEPTEMBER 26, 2017, New York, NY: In response to the devastating impact Hurricane Maria on the island of Puerto Rico, leaders of the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York and across the U.S. have begun waging an emergency response campaign to send much needed aid and relief funds to help the U.S. territory recover and rebuild. The Hispanic Federation, Puerto Rican Family Institute and National Puerto Rican Day Parade began joint discussions and planning as soon as the National Weather Service confirmed that Puerto Rico was in Hurricane Maria’s direct path and impact on the island could result in a dire situation. Since then, these organizations have been in close collaboration with each other, and with the efforts of New York City and New York State, to develop a long-term action plan to help Puerto Rico recover and rebuild.“Given the unprecedented devastation caused by Hurricane Maria on the island of Puerto Rico, we made the strategic decision to join forces and combine our talents,” says José Calderón, President of the Hispanic Federation. “Each organization has something unique to bring to the table, and we sought the synergy of our combined efforts rather than succumb to the duplication of fragmented efforts.”
Establishing a means of fundraising was an immediate priority, and the Hispanic Federation implemented a system for accepting monetary contributions by Wednesday. On that same day, the Puerto Rican Family Institute (PRFI) and National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP) launched efforts to collect emergency supplies, starting on Thursday and running through the weekend. The PRFI also established a phone bank, where volunteers answered calls from people that had not heard from their loved ones in Puerto Rico after the storm in an effort to help them make contact.
“The Puerto Rican Family Institute is committed to serving alongside other leading organizations from New York’s Puerto Rican community, as we work in unity to bring much needed aid and relief to our families now living in the mass devastation,” says Rosa J. Gutiérrez, CEO of the PRFI and NPRDP Board Member. “I am inspired by the overwhelming support received from donors and volunteers, and we hope we can count on their support over the long term.”One particularly special effort was a collaboration between Daddy Yankee and the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, where they mobilized local communities to collect emergency supplies at his concerts last week in New York City, Chicago and Connecticut. “I am very appreciative for the support the National Puerto Rican Day Parade has offered me, serving as a channel to deliver the emergency call to help Puerto Rico,” said Daddy Yankee. “This is just the beginning of a long journey to recovery.”
“I received a call from Daddy Yankee sharing his plans to use his concerts to collect emergency supplies, but he needed access to volunteers, transportation and storage,” said María Cristina Marrero, NPRDP Board Member. “I immediately reached out to fellow Board members and other contacts to secure the resources needed to ensure these collections became a reality.”
A non-profit organization, Positive Workforce, provided volunteers and organized the transportation logistics and storage for the items collected at the New York concert. Volunteers from the Puerto Rican Parade in Hartford provided assistance for the items collected at the Connecticut concert, and another group of volunteers provided assistance for the collection at the Chicago concert.
As a result of the collections at PRFI and the concerts, at least five shipping containers are ready to be sent to the island. Additionally, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade collaborated with several other local organizations and community leaders in other states to help publicize their collections and generate support from their local communities. One in particular was the Ohio Puerto Rican Disaster Relief Coordinating Committee, in Lorain Ohio, who collected emergency supplies to add to the PRFI and NPRDP collections. Other local communities with their own collections include Cleveland, OH; Hoboken and Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; as well as several communities throughout Florida (Brevard County, Broward County, Ft. Myers, Miami, Orlando and Tampa).
“As an organization with national reach, we leveraged our social media channels to coordinate with local community organizations and help them inform people on the ways they could help,” says Louis Maldonado, NPRDP Board Member. “Many Puerto Ricans living in the mainland U.S. have never lived in Puerto Rico, but the island still holds a special place in our hearts. It makes up a large part of our identity, and we will continue collaborating over the long term to help our families rebuild Puerto Rico.”
Hurricane Maria resulted in the worst disaster to have affected Puerto Rico and one of the worst to occur on American soil. These organizations are committed to working closely with government agencies and elected officials at the city, state and federal levels to play a lead role in the long-term plan to rebuild Puerto Rico.
To donate to the Hispanic Federation online, visit www.hispanicfederation.org/
The Puerto Rican Family Institute, located at 145 West 15th Street in Manhattan, is accepting volunteers and donation Monday through Thursday, 8am to 8pm. Volunteers needed include bilingual individuals to help answer phones, as well as those that are able to help sort through and pack donations.
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