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PHOTO: U.S. Dept. of Defense

Hurricane Maria Relief

The Jewish Federation of North America is working tirelessly to respond to the enormous needs of the victims of Hurricane Maria. 

 

Aid to Puerto Rico and other Hurricane Relief Efforts

September 29, 2017 - Mark Gurvis, JFNA

 

We are in virtually hourly contact with the leadership of the Puerto Rico and St. Thomas communities around a whole host of issues.

 

Grants totaling $225K are already approved and funds transferred to support:

  • Direct aid grants to the synagogue communities in the various places
  • Funding to ship two containers with $200,000 of donated medical, emergency and construction supplies to PR and St. Thomas through Afya Foundation
  • Funding to support IsraAid’s deployment on Puerto Rico

 

With funding from UJA Federation of NY, 212 generators have been or are being delivered for the community’s needs (100 each to PR and St. Thomas; 12 to the Keys).

 

Working leadership from So. Palm Beach Federation we are coordinating logistics to move 80,000 lbs of donated food and other urgent supplies to the islands.

 

Over the past five weeks we have seen a brutal series of natural disasters and our Federation system has been deeply engaged in responding to each of them. We continue to work with the Houston Jewish community on the massive impact of Hurricane Harvey on their community ($30M+ of estimated needs, and with communities across Florida to assess needs from Hurricane Irma. JDC is actively working in Mexico following the earthquakes, and in other island nations affected by hurricanes.

 

Puerto Rico's Jewish Community

 

Maria had a crushing impact on several island nations and in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican community is about 1,500 people. It has two synagogues and a Chabad presence. The entire power grid for the island may be out for 4-6 months and the challenges ahead for the Jewish community there and for the general population are enormous. JFNA is working actively with local leadership in Puerto Rico to bring assistance to the island as quickly as possible. IsraAid also now has a team operating in Puerto Rico working directly with the Jewish community.

 

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