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Elaine's Family Hurricane Relief

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Many of us have been watching the ongoing disaster in Puerto Rico and asking how we can possibly help.  For us at Children’s it’s not just a news story, but it’s personal. Elaine Molina-Tena, ITS’s Senior Administrative Professional, is from Puerto Rico and she has many family members that have been impacted on the island. If you have been following the news, you know that now more than 45 days since Hurricane Maria struck, the island is still 70% without power.  This has been declared the longest electrical blackout in the history of or our country.  View the 60 Minutes Report from Sunday (11/5) on the ongoing disaster. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-ricos-storm-of-misery/ 

Without power, pump stations cannot operate to supply clean drinking water and cell networks, while mostly up and operating, cannot be reliably accessed by residents unable to charge their devices.

So, what can we do?  Getting supplies to the island is very difficult, time consuming, and expensive.  Even when shipped many supplies never make it to their intended recipients. Unfortunately, we can’t fix this enormous problem, but we can make a real difference for Elaine's  family. We ask your assistance in raising funds for 3 very specific purposes, which will make a true difference:

(1) We want to provide manual water purification pumps for each household.  These pumps are small, very easy to use, military grade pumps with long-lived ceramic filters that can quickly purify a lot of water.  One quart of water can be pumped and purified in approximately 2 minutes and up to 13,000 gallons of water purified before needing a filter change.  My family and I have successfully used these for years in the back-country and on foreign travel.


(2) A portable photovoltaic array that can fully charge a cell phone in 1 hour or a laptop computer in 6.5 hours.  An included battery pack stores power for nighttime use and cloudy days.  My sons sucessfully used this type of device to charge their cell phones while backpacking in rural Turkey two  summers ago.

(3) Two airline tickets, so this personal portable equipment can be hand carried and delivered to Elaine's family.

The goal is to provide at least 15 households with this important equipment.  No one can predict when all will return to normal for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico. Even when it does the power grid is likely to remain fragile for some time.  What we can do is make sure Elaine's family doesn't have to be concerned about safe drinking water or important communications services any longer.  

We are many.  If each of us can contribute on average $52 we can make this happen.  Please spread this campaign beyond the IT Division to your friends and others whom you know who would like to help.  Any extra supplies purchased will be distributed to Elaine's additional family and friends in Puerto Rico.  Everything we send will be deeply appreciated and will truly meet essential needs.  It’s not often we can make such a clear and tangible difference in other’s lives.  As we move into November and into the Thanksgiving season please consider helping in whatever way you can.

Great thanks for your participation, your caring, and your generosity.
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Donations 

  • Karen McCarville
    • $100 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Mike Blaskowski
Organizer
Aurora, CO
Elaine Molina-Tena
Beneficiary

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