Relief for Puerto Rico
Thankfully yesterday a temporary suspension [10 days] of the Jones Act was put in place which will help bring much more relief aid to Puerto Rico. The Jones Act is an almost century's old act that required all goods shipped between points in the US to be carried by vessels built, owned and (mostly) operated by Americans. American shipping is some of the most expensive in the world, thus in disaster relief situations, it severely limits access to supplies, and also makes them very pricey. The waiver will greatly help, but Puerto Rico has a long road to recovery, so let's keep watch whether it will need to be extended.
If you would like to make a material and/or fiscal donation to relief efforts, we have compiled a list of organizations as well as the strategy for what to send. See below.
What to Send:
From those doing relief work on the ground, they've said that the strategy is to steer away from collecting water and old clothes,
which clog these processes, and focus on long-term use items such as solar powered chargers, lanterns, radios, gas stoves, headlamps, batteries, wipes, baby items, USB car chargers, canned food, and protein bars which will be harder to get and needed for a long time.
Other concerns include medication for those with respiratory illnesses and problems brought on by lack of water. So they are looking to get medication for asthma and allergies, emergen-c and airborne which help keep immune systems strong, n95 masks for cleaning out moldy homes, and perhaps convenient water filtration systems.
What you can do1. NY AREA RESIDENTS there are several donation centers here where you can drop stuff off - below are some additional ones:
MANHATTAN
Casabe Senior Houses
150 E. 121st St
Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm.
BRONX
El Maestro, Inc.
1300 Southern Blvd
Mon-Fri, 2-8pm.
BROOKLYN
St. Paul's Parish Hall
334 South 5th St.
Sunday, 1-5pm
QUEENS
MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City
Thurs-Mon 12pm-6pm
2. DONATE relief funds to one of the organizations below:
Maria Fund
United For Puerto Rico
Hispanic Federation
3. STAY UP TO DATE and also see a larger comprehensive list of what and where to send and donate here