Experts predict Puerto Rico will feel earthquakes every day for several more months on the island where people are traumatized by the more than 1,000 earthquakes which have hit the island since late December. The American Red Cross is there, supporting people impacted by the ongoing tremors.
The emotional toll caused by the quakes is evident with thousands of people remaining in the government-run shelters or staying outside because of their fear that another tremor will hit. Many of the communities are still recovering from Hurricanes Maria and Irma.
Right now, donations to the American Red Cross are helping provide continuous support to people affected by the recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico. With as many as 240 trained disaster workers still on the ground, the Red Cross is supporting people staying in government shelters, distributing items like blankets, water and hygiene kits, and offering health and mental health services. To further care for the health and wellbeing of those affected, Red Cross volunteers are visiting local communities and knocking on doors to provide emotional support, some financial assistance, disaster spiritual care, and offer coping and safety information to help people get through this challenging time and prepare for future disasters.
The Red Cross has already:
- Distributed more than 84,000 relief supplies
- Provided more than 8,100 disaster care services to provide health and mental health services, as well as comfort and spiritual care.
- Served more than 1,000 households as people plan their next steps.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help people affected by the Puerto Rico Earthquakes by texting the word EARTHQUAKES to 90999 to make a $10 donation or indicating this disaster on the donation form on redcross.org, and printing and mailing to your local Red Cross chapter. The Red Cross honors donor intent, and all designated funds will be used to support the affected communities in Puerto Rico through emergency relief, recovery and preparedness efforts.
EARTHQUAKE SAFETY You can find valuable information on how to be safe before, during and after an earthquake here.
Watch this video to learn more about the Red Cross response in Puerto Rico.
THE ROAD TO FAITH AND HOPE
Recently a team of Red Cross disaster workers visited a family in the town of Ponce for a referral for a teenager with terminal cancer whose family lost their home in the earthquake. Here is their story:
“We are on our way with a referral for a teenager with terminal cancer who lives with her family in a rural area in the town of Ponce. A team of five Red Crossers, part of the Disability Integration Program, drive for a few hours on a sunny day to look for this family. Once we arrive to their home, we notice there is a sign at the entrance that says: Campamento Fe y Esperanza which means, “Hope and Faith Camp”. Immediately the sign sets the tone for what we are about to experience.”
As the team of disaster mental health professionals enters the camp, they are greeted by a tall, beautiful, bright eyed teenager - Michelle. She steps out from a tent where she had been taking a nap. She then introduces two of her seven siblings who were sleeping in a tent next to her.
This is not a routine visit for one member of the Red Cross team, a volunteer for about a year, a mother of 10 herself, who started talking to Michelle and assessing her current condition. Then the father approached, the mother after him and little by little we are greeted by the entire Perez Velez family.
Red Cross volunteers don’t come empty handed. They have teddy bears for each kid, comfort kits and blankets for each member of the family and the “Prepare with Pedro” disaster activity coloring books with crayons. As the licensed practitioner nurse evaluates Michelle, the rest of the children are narrating their experience during the earthquake.
“Children experience traumatic events differently. Experiencing a disaster can leave children feeling frightened, confused and insecure. Our mental health professionals create an environment that provides children with opportunities to talk and discuss their fears and concerns and provide a plan in case of disaster striking again.”
“Michelle’s mother Mayra then approaches me and says: ‘Cancer patients have good day and bad days, today Michelle woke with in one of these bad days. She has been throwing up and with very low spirits. But after you guys came, I can see the brightness in her eyes, she is happy again.’
“We spent an hour, maybe two with the Perez family. It was such a happy place even though they’ve lost their home to the 6.4 earthquake that hit the island on January 7, 2020. You feel the hope, their faith and, above all you feel the love in this place.”
CORPORATIONS HELP The generous donations from members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and the Disaster Responder Program enable the American Red Cross to prepare communities for disasters big and small, respond whenever and wherever disasters occur and help families during the recovery process.
ADGP $1 Million members are: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Anthem Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; The Home Depot Foundation; Latter-day Saint Charities; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Mazda North American Operations; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; State Farm; VSP Global; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; and Wells Fargo.
ADGP $500,000 members are: Altria Group; Aon; Capital One; Cisco Foundation; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; CSX; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental Community Care Foundation; Discover; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Fidelity Charitable Trustees’ Initiative; Ford Motor Company; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Grainger; HCA Healthcare; Humble Bundle; IBM Corporation; International Paper; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; LHC Group; Merck Foundation; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; PepsiCo Foundation; Procter & Gamble; PwC Charitable Foundation; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Sands Cares; Southwest Airlines; The Starbucks Foundation; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; The USAA Foundation, Inc.; and The Wawa Foundation.
Disaster Responder Program members are: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; American Express; Assurant; AstraZeneca; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; The Ball Foundation; Barclays; BMW of North America; CarMax; Choice Hotels International; The Coca-Cola Company; The Coca-Cola Foundation; Consumer Cellular; Cox Enterprises; DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Dominion Energy; Duke Energy; Duke Realty; Equitable; Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Ingersoll Rand Foundation; John Deere Foundation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; Lenovo; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Mastercard; Medtronic Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Northwestern Mutual and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation; Old Dominion Freight Line; The Pfizer Foundation; Prudential Financial; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation; Ryder System, Inc.; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; Southeastern Grocers Home of BI-LO Harveys Winn Dixie; Tata Consultancy Services; TD Ameritrade; U-Haul International; United Technologies Corporation; U.S. Bank; and Visa.