Yes, Valentine’s day is a holiday made by the greeting card companies. Some people see it as the day to give stuff animals, chocolates, and bouquets. However, I see Valentine’s day differently. I see it as a day of appreciating others. Instead of wasting your money on heart-shaped chocolates and flowers. This year donate your money towards organizations that need your help, love, and support.
This Valentine’s day, I donated money to organizations that are helping Puerto Rico and the after-effects of Hurricane Maria. Today is the 145th day that the whole Island still has no power. This is insane because Puerto Rico’s Governor, Ricardo Rossello, originally believed in October 2017 that the power would be restored by December of 2017. Well, it’s February, and only 71% of the Island has power. This is just unacceptable!
Puerto Rico needs our help and support. We have left the citizens of Puerto Rico in the dark for too long. We can’t change the way the United States responded to Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria. However, we can brighten the future by thinking of the bigger picture of Valentine’s day and donate towards helping Puerto Rico. Please donate to Puerto Rico so their long road of recovery can be shortened.
Below are five organizations that you can donate to on Valentines Day for Puerto Rico:
- UNIDOS Disaster Relief & Recovery Program to Support Puerto Rico: Their mission is to serve and help families and the communities in Puerto Rico. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a spokesperson for this organization. In fact, he wrote a song called “Almost Like Praying” and donated all the profits to UNIDOS.
- Cáritas De Puerto Rico is a Catholic organization that is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It’s a Catholic organization that is engaged in hurricane relief efforts on the island.
- Hogar Nueva Mujer is a women’s shelter in Cayey, Puerto Rico. They are a nonprofit organization. They accept contribution through ATH Móvil, at (787) 263-6473, via PayPal (HogarNM@gmail.com), by mail (Hogar Nueva Mujer, P.O. Box 927, Cayey, Puerto Rico, 00737), or by making a deposit at Banco Popular, account #047018178.
- Jóvenes x Puerto Rico is San Juan entrepreneurs on the ground coming together to help those who can’t get access to meals and water.
- Habitat for Humanity Puerto Rico is an organization in San Juan, Puerto Rico that is helping rebuild homes that were destroyed in the Hurricane.