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One Woman's Mission to Aid Puerto Rico

UVA

Tired of waiting for the federal government or the Red Cross to step in, some Virginians are stepping up – doing what they can for the people of Puerto Rico.  

Elizabeth Alvarez is a surgical trauma nurse at UVA.  She grew up in Pennsylvania, but considers herself a native of Patillas, Puerto Rico, a town of 16,000 people who lived 90 minutes south of San Juan. 

“We went home to Puerto Rico almost every summer until my grandma passed away,” she explains. “Our finca, which is farm, is where my 13 aunts and uncles were raised is up in the mountains, and that house is no longer standing.”

In fact, much of Patillas was destroyed, about a thousand people losing everything, and so far she says, no government or non-profit agency has arrived to help.

“I love the prayers.  I love the thumbs up on my social media,” Alvarez says, “but action is what’s going to help the people of my island, so I created a GoFundMe page – GoFundMe.com/PuertoRicoCville-- and I started calling people.”

One of the people she called was Elvis Doran, a radio deejay who invites listeners who are giving 100% to check in.

“Elizabeth, I’m going to put you on hold.  We’re going to find out your Go Fund Me page, and we’re donating $5,000 to you today,” he told her.

“Thank you so much,” she said, bursting into tears.  “You don’t know how many people are suffering, and you’re going to make a huge difference.  I promise I’m going to take it straight to the people.  People of Patillas, Puerto Rico, I’m coming!” she said.

She found a shipping company able to transport donations, but it didn’t have any containers, so Alvarez bought one at a cost of 1,700 and began filling it with water and food, medical supplies, diapers, personal hygiene products, chain saws and a generator to power the clinic she hopes to set up.

In early November she, several friends, relatives and medical professionals will travel to San Juan, courtesy of Jet Blue, to set up camp and begin feeding and caring for the people of Patillas.