New Haven Collecting Donations for Hurricane-Ravaged Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rican population in New Haven, with the support of city leaders, is rallying to provide relief for the hurricane-ravaged island.

"I really appreciate it with all my heart," Jane Vazquez, who has lived in New Haven for 15 years, said. 

On Saturday, Vazquez said she finally spoke to her mom in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the entire island.

"Oh my god, it was an indescribable feeling after being two days without having to hear nothing from my family," Vazquez said.

She is using a walkie-talkie app called Zello to keep in touch with family members in San Juna.

"With my family- thank God- there’s no loss," she said. "Only the property loss."

The same cannot be said for New Haven’s State Rep. Juan Candelaria.

"My aunt had passed away due to the hurricane," Candelaria said Monday morning during a press conference at city hall. "She was in the house and the house was blown away with her in it."

Candelaria, Mayor Toni Harp and local Latino groups are organizing ways to make donations for the storm-stricken U.S. territory.

"One of the texts or communications that I’ve received which really hit me was hearing that patients come asking for food and even the physicians themselves don’t have places to eat," said Dr. Marietta Vazquez, an associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Vazquez said Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Yale School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital have collected two thousand pounds of critical supplies like life-saving medicines and sterile equipment.

"The roadblock for me right now is how do we get these very important supplies to the people who need them," Dr. Vazquez said.

Like so many people in the New Haven community, Dr. Vazquez has a number of family members who still live on the island.

"I know they’re safe," she said. "But there’s no electricity, there’s no water, things we take for granted."

The City of New Haven has set up a page where you can donate to the New Haven for Puerto Rico Fund.

On Saturday, Sept. 30, there will be five collection points in New Haven where you can drop off cash, check or non-perishable food donations. They are Front and Pierpoint Streets, Grand Ave. and Ferry Street, Kimberly Ave. and Lamberton St., Ella T. Grasso Blvd. and Columbus Ave. and State and Elm Streets.

Donation link here

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