Water Filters for Puerto Rico
Donation protected
The UCSF Asthma Collaboratory (UCSF) is raising funds to purchase water filters benefitting Puerto Rico’s post-hurricane water crisis.
Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million American citizens, on September 20th, ravaging the island’s electricity grid and water infrastructure. FEMA is delivering 742 thousand liters of water per day (FEMA). However, data from statusPR, a government-run progress tracker, shows that 30.5% of the population does not have running water and 87.7% of the island still lacks electricity (statusPR, October 20).
Puerto Rican residents are bathing in and drinking from streams contaminated by farm runoff and toxic waste, drastically increasing the risk for a major waterborne disease outbreak (AP News , CNN). Aid will not last forever, and until all water treatment plants are operational and running water access has been fully restored, Puerto Ricans will require tools to keep their water supplies safe. At the end of the fundraiser, we will be purchasing water filters in bulk and sending them to our collaborator José Rodríguez-Santana, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, who runs the largest pediatric lung clinic in the Caribbean (Centro de Neumología Pediátrica). Your donation will go directly toward purchasing the filters, and our longstanding collaboration with medical services in Puerto Rico will ensure that the filters go directly to those in need.
Cover photo of individuals in Utuado, Puerto Rico two weeks after Hurricane Maria. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million American citizens, on September 20th, ravaging the island’s electricity grid and water infrastructure. FEMA is delivering 742 thousand liters of water per day (FEMA). However, data from statusPR, a government-run progress tracker, shows that 30.5% of the population does not have running water and 87.7% of the island still lacks electricity (statusPR, October 20).
Puerto Rican residents are bathing in and drinking from streams contaminated by farm runoff and toxic waste, drastically increasing the risk for a major waterborne disease outbreak (AP News , CNN). Aid will not last forever, and until all water treatment plants are operational and running water access has been fully restored, Puerto Ricans will require tools to keep their water supplies safe. At the end of the fundraiser, we will be purchasing water filters in bulk and sending them to our collaborator José Rodríguez-Santana, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, who runs the largest pediatric lung clinic in the Caribbean (Centro de Neumología Pediátrica). Your donation will go directly toward purchasing the filters, and our longstanding collaboration with medical services in Puerto Rico will ensure that the filters go directly to those in need.
Cover photo of individuals in Utuado, Puerto Rico two weeks after Hurricane Maria. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
Organizer
Andy Zeiger
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
