Fear and Uncertainty in Puerto Rico

The Mercy Chefs team is on the ground in Puerto Rico! We arrived this weekend and are traveling into the mountains today to begin assessing which families need power the most. We’ll visit people who are likely never to have power again. Our primary focus is on widows, single mothers, the sick and elderly hurricane victims. A little light in the darkness can mean a great deal, and that’s what Mercy Chefs is in Puerto Rico trying to do.

When we flew in on Saturday, we still saw blue tarps covering hundreds of homes. I found out that an estimated 60,000 people still live under blue tarps in Puerto Rico today. Even though Tropical Storm Beryl isn't expected to make a direct hit on the island, today's forecast called for 40-mph winds, five inches of rain and the threat of flash floods. It’s likely to storm all night with rain in the mountains flooding the barrios below. Also, mudslides are predicted tonight because the drainage system hasn't recovered from last year's hurricanes.

Power outages are likely, as fear and uncertainty rise over whether or not the power grid will hold up for this storm. The attached photo shows one of our vehicles under a newly fallen tree. On our way to the mountains today, no tree. But we had to drive under it to come back down.

Power lines remain down across the island, and infrastructure damage can be seen all over. Even on good days, the power grid goes in and out. Folks never really know when they’re going to have electricity. That's why our efforts to provide 40 families with a constant, reliable and permanent energy solution is so important.

Please help us bring solar power to widows, single mothers, the sick, the elderly and other hurricane victims who urgently need it. Click here or on the banner below to make a tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, $100 or more to support Mercy Chefs' "Operation Crisis Recovery" efforts in Puerto Rico:

We want to install donated solar panels in up to 40 homes on the island. At a cost of $2,000 per home, families will receive five solar panels they can use to run a refrigerator, led lights, a fan and a small, in-home medical unit. The total cost to install 200 donated solar panels will be approximately $80,000. After our team completes this week's assessments, work crews will being installing the solar panels throughout the summer. We hope to finish the final solar install before the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria on September 20.

Will you please support our ongoing efforts to help Hurricane Maria survivors who have been in the dark for ten months now? We are more than halfway to reaching our $80,000 goal and providing a permanent energy solution to 40 families in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Go here to help fully fund this important , life-changing initiative.

Beryl is a reminder that we are fully into another hurricane season, and Puerto Rico still hasn't recovered from the devastating blow delivered by Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma, which struck two weeks earlier. Fear fills hearts, while grocery shelves are empty. So many homes have been abandoned on the island, and the death count is now up to 4,500+ victims. Today, we drove through streets still littered with debris from house clean outs -- ten months after Maria! Please help.

Thank you, in advance, for helping Mercy Chefs bring light into the darkness through our "Operation Crisis Recovery" efforts, as we stand with fellow Americans in Puerto Rico during their time of need.

Blessings,

Gary

P.S. Again, Mercy Chefs is back in Puerto Rico, working to provide solar power for 40 families still in the dark. At a cost of $2,000 per home, our team can install five panels that a family can use to run a refrigerator, led lights, a fan and a small, in-home medical unit. Please help us do what we can to provide a permanent energy solution to families in need this summer. Click here or on the banner below to donate now and keep Mercy Chefs' "Operation Crisis Recovery" efforts on track, as we continue this and other vital outreaches:

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