When Dorany Rodriguez went home one night this week and cracked open a cold bottle of water, she thought of her mother — left stranded without power and water after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico — and wept.
“We live in a bubble. We don’t realize how important the lights, the power, the water are,” she said. “I couldn’t help but start crying. I don’t know if my parents have enough water.”
Rodriguez, who was born and lived on the island until she came to Utah to attend Brigham Young University, is part of Utah Support For Puerto Rico, Utahns with ties to Puerto Rico raising money and gathering supplies for the ailiing island.
“Let’s think of these, our brothers and sisters there. Even if you’ve never met them, they need us now. We’re so blessed in this country,” she said.
The group has set up a crowdfunding page with a goal of raising $15,000 — it has raised more than $8,000 — that will be pooled with a financial contribution from Utah-based Vivint to buy generators to be delivered to the island where as much as 95 percent of the population is still without power.
Because gasoline is scarce and there are long lines at the pumps, they are looking to purchase solar-powered generators to deliver to the island.
The group is accepting donations from the public at three sites in Lehi, Provo and Logan through Saturday afternoon. Primarily, it’s looking for bottled water, nonperishable food items that don’t have to be cooked, generators, camp stoves and propane tanks, said Jeff Mendez, a native of Puerto Rico who is spearheading the effort for Vivint.
Vivint will pay to deliver the supplies, and Mendez is coordinating the logistics with mayors, local humanitarian groups, and family he has on the island, including his cousin, former New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who already has made three back-and-forth relief trips to deliver supplies.
Stores only open for a few hours a day, and even then, they do little good for people who can’t withdraw money from the bank because of crippled infrastructure.
Communication with family members on the island has been sporadic and difficult, Rodriguez said. Her family weathered the storm, but her uncle Hector, who was in his late 80s, died of causes she believes were unrelated to the storm.
Because the funeral homes are without power, there was only one that would accept his body, and there are 30 more of the dead who are awaiting autopsies before they will be able to have his funeral.
It’s difficult for her, she said, to not be able to be there and support her parents and family, but she is looking forward to going back home to help distribute the relief supplies, which she realizes will be part of a long-term rebuilding effort.
“It’s going to take years to rebuild. It’s going to take four to six months to get power again on the island,” Rodriguez said, but she is grateful for what she has seen. “It’s been an outpouring of support from a lot of people, our neighbors, our friends. It doesn’t matter if they’re not Puerto Rican — they’ve just come forward to help us.”
Those interested in donating supplies can drop off goods until 2 p.m. Saturday at the Vivint offices in Provo, at 4931 N. 300 West, in Lehi at 3401 N. Ashton Blvd., or in Logan at 636 E. 1400 North. Financial contributions can be made through the group’s crowdfunding page at youcaring.com/utah4puertorico, or you can visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/utah4puertorico