It’s been a week now since Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico at Category 4 strength in the morning hours of Sept. 20, leaving in it’s wake a swath of devastation described as apocalyptic — a week, and still the Trump administration has failed to respond with anything other than insults and empty platitudes.
So — with the island’s entire power grid destroyed, leaving residents with no power other than what can be provided through generators, and with supplies of food, drinkable water and fuel running dangerously low — the country’s business communities and individuals are stepping up to fill the gap in relief efforts.
Officials with CenterLink, the national association of LGBT community centers — including Dallas’s Resource Center — said today that they had been in contact with the organization’s member center in Puerto Rico, Centro Comunitario LGBTT de Puerto Rico, to find out how best to help the island’s LGBT community.
CenterLink has set up a fundraising page through which people can make donations and funds collected through the campaign will go to the Centro Comunitario to help them “provide relief efforts to the community they serve.” Along with helping to purchase batteries, flashlights, a generator for the center, non-perishable food items and other essential items, the money will be used to assist “those least likely to receive assistance from post-storm recovery efforts — the LGBTQ community.”
The CenterLink statement notes that recent updates indicate that the main post office in San Juan is now open for P.O. box deliveries. Those who would like to send essential items such as batteries, flashlights and non-perishable food items like powdered milk directly to the center can mail small packages — emphasis on the “small” — to Centro Comunitario LGBTT de Puerto Rico, Attn. Cecilia La Luz, P.O. Box 9501, San Juan, PR 00908.
Make cash donations here, and for more information contact Denise Spivak, senior director of programs and outreach for CenterLink, at denise@lgbtcenters.org.
