Making a Difference in Jayuya

On September 20th, 2017 hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico entering as a massive category 4 storm.  Today, more than 75 days after the hurricane my beloved town of Jayuya, in which I grew up, still has no power.  Fortunately, schools have recently started operating and are back in session with an early release schedule.  For many children, school is all they have at this time giving them a sense of normalcy and routine.  Thankfully, schools are able to provide a hot breakfast and lunch, but for many children those are the only hot meals they are getting every day. I reached out to my high school friend, Maria Colon, the principal of Miguel A. Sastre school. After speaking with her, I realized more needed to be done to support this community. That is how this fundraiser started!  My sister, Ana Geier, and my daughter, Sarah Larson, will be volunteering and donating all resources collected through this fundraiser to the school.  They will be traveling to Puerto Rico on a previously purchased trip, well before Maria hit the island.  Therefore, this fundraiser will NOT be to cover their expenses for their trip. The purpose of this fundraiser is to provide the 189 students of Miguel A. Sastre School an end of the year/holiday party full of fun and entertainment that will help them begin to heal from such a traumatic experience.  These kids need a day of fun and laughter, and they deserve nothing less! So far our plans include a bouncy house, a clown show,a face painting person, and many craft projects provided by local schools. The party will be held at the school on December 18th. This party will be the beginning phase of this fundraising goal.  Our ultimate goal is to raise enough money to be able to provide the school with a generator that can be used to run their copy machine.  As a teacher, I can’t imagine not having access to something as simple as a copy machine, but that is their reality. Please remember no donation is too small and a little can go a long way. Updates will be provided, as well as pictures of the event. I want to give a heartfelt thank you to our donors. I thank you and will continue to work for this island I call home.