Six weeks after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, thousands of the U.S. territory’s residents are still without electricity and clean water. A 1997 graduate of SM East and his girlfriend, a star of a reality series American Pickers on the History Channel, are hoping to help in efforts for the island’s recovery.
Jeremy Scheuch and Danielle Colby have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for supplies and delivery for hard-to-reach areas of the island. Scheuch and Colby traveled to Puerto Rico last week to deliver supplies and assist emergency relief efforts. Here’s a post about the work Scheuch posted on Facebook after he returned to the U.S. Oct. 29:
A very long day of travel today and a lot of stories to tell, but yesterday was a long, tough, but incredible day. We drove through the mountains of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico with a caravan of self organized volunteers delivering hot meals, water, medicine, clothes, and other supplies. We went door to door walking and driving up miles of mountains that had only been accessible for about a week or two because of mudslides and debris. This is an area of Puerto Rico that became even more remote after Hurricane Maria. Lots of families and elderly that haven’t had much of any relief for 38 days. So many hugs and smiles and tears. This is what Puerto Rico is really like right now. So much devastation and families who have lost everything. Mudslides, destroyed homes, missing roofs, and except for a few generators, no water or electricity. If they are “lucky” they will get power back sometime next year. And not to put too fine a point on it but the death toll is now above 900 due to what the government is calling “natural causes” following this disaster so it is imperative that we actually do check on folks. Each person we checked on greated us with open arms often times offering us what little they had to help others. Most folks were more concerned with their neighbor a street down or a town away. The hot meals were provided by chef Jose Andres and the day was run by Puerto Rican’s. We were the only mainlanders that did not suffer destruction from the hurricane, many others who were serving folks with us had lost their homes or businesses or farms but still were driven to help their fellow islanders. Mainland media is totally missing the mark. Talking to these survivors in their own homes, doing well checks, islanders taking care islanders, looking after of their elderly, children, sick and bed ridden…. now that’s a story that turns adversity into triumph. So, as you can clearly see, your donation dollars are working! Please don’t stop donating. When we return to help again, there will STILL be folks who haven’t seen any help at all. That’s how big this disaster is. And a huge thank you to Carlos I.Tirado who has been on the ground for the past 3 weeks being a hero. And thanks to my lady Danielle Colby, American Pickers who I love more than anything. Please don’t forget about Puerto Rico. We’ll be back next month, you can donate here
