The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
New Haven sending help
Group raises $63,000 to help Puerto Ricans
NEW HAVEN — On street corners, as well at the Quinnipiac River Park, residents came through Saturday with donations to help fellow citizens in Puerto Rico hit hard by Hurricane Maria that destroyed much of the infrastructure on the island.
Organized by state Rep. Juan Candelaria, D-New Haven, city officials and the founders of Arte Inc. — Danny Diaz and David Greco — the daylong event raised an estimated $63,000, including money raised through its GoFundMe page, New Haven for Puerto Rico.
In addition, proceeds from the Hillhouse-Hamden football game on Friday added $5,000 more to the cause.
State Rep. Al Paolillo, D-97, got a shout-out at the park from Candelaria for his help behind the scenes.
Also in attendance there were Alders David Reyes, D-5; Delores Colon, D-6; Rose Santana, D-13; Jose Crespo, D-16, and Tomas Reyes, chief of staff to Mayor Toni Harp.
Reyes, while reiterating the complaint of Carmen Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, who criticized the federal government for not responding in a timely manner, said he was proud of being part of the effort in New Haven.
Candelaria said he was emotional about the level
of support they are receiving.
“We have the support of all the city of New Haven. We have elected officials, we have the fire department, we have the police department. I have not seen this kind of organization in any part of the state as New Haven has done it,” Candelaria said.
He said they also did not want to forget those who are hurting in Texas and Florida from Hurricanes Harvey and Maria. “We are one,” he said.
Fire Chief John Alston told the crowd “don’t get caught up in the politics. That is always going to be there. People need help. That is all we need to know. Focus on helping people.”
The chief said the fire department was working on a special gift to Puerto Rico which he could not reveal at the moment.
Harp told the crowd why their donation was important.
“Puerto Rico is in a really tough position. Maria devastated Puerto Rico, but unlike Texas, unlike Florida, Puerto Rico is not a state, so it has to wait behind all of those other places. That’s why your donation is so important to help our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico,” Harp said.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who was in New Haven on Friday, said there was a huge difference in the amount of aid and personnel sent to Haiti, a foreign country, when it was devastated by a hurricane and the amount and timeliness of assistance sent to Puerto Rico for U.S. citizens.
Harp said New Haven knows a number of children will be coming to New Haven from Puerto Rico, once planes are running from there on a regular basis.
“I want you to know we are prepared,” Harp told the crowd at the park.
Later, she said the school board is looking to potentially use a building on Ella Grasso Boulevard for classrooms, if needed. Harp said they are also tallying the number of students by grade and where additional students can be added.
“It is such an unknown, I think we have to overcompensate and then ratch down,” Edward Joyner, president of the New Haven Board of Education, said.
Abie Benitez, director of instruction for the New Haven school system and one of the main volunteers at Arte Inc., said the other headquarters for the day was at the John C. Daniels School in the Hill, where groups of volunteers spread out getting donations in that neighborhood.
Volunteers, accompanied by a police officer and a firefighter, stood at the intersections of Grand Avenue and Ferry Street; Kimberly Avenue and Lamberton Street; Ella Grasso Boulevard and Columbus Avenue; Elm and State streets taking donations.
Benitez, who has been in the U.S. mainland for 30 years, also had a personal story to tell.
After 10 days, she finally got a text from her sister, Liza Quinones, who was able to get a signal in San Juan when she got a ride there with her brother, who works for the government.
Quinones told her there is no internet or cell phone connections in the town of Fajardo, in the northeast corner of Puerto Rico, where Benitez grew up. Also, because of the limited amount of fuel on the island, Quinones told her they can either put it in their cars or their generators, and she opted for the generator so she could cook.
Quinones told her that the municipal governments have been helpful and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are assisting residents in filling out applications for aid.
Benitez is also the president of the Connecticut Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents.
She said separately from the statewide effort Saturday to collect money for Puerto Rico, her organization will partner with the Connecticut Association of Public Superintendents, the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and the Connecticut Association of Schools to send funds to schools that have been damaged by the hurricanes.
Benitez said these funds, which will be collected from all the schools in Connecticut, will be sent to education systems in need in Texas and Florida, as well as Puerto Rico.
She said it is assumed that FEMA will take care of infrastructure, while this fundraiser can help replace destroyed books and other goods they may need.