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Hurricane Fiona Donations doubled!

Hurricane Fiona Donations doubled!

On September 17, 2022, Puerto Rico was dealt a devastating blow from Hurricane Fiona. Donate today and double your gift. In collaboration with IBA, Point32Health Foundation is currently matching donations for Hurricane Fiona relief for up to $50,000, doubling donations made. The funds will be distributed by IBA to nonprofit organizations focused on addressing the immediate needs of residents on the island.

The storm made landfall almost exactly five years following Hurricane Maria, after which people from across the Commonwealth came together and to help our neighbors. Today, we have an opportunity to support our family and friends once again in light of this latest natural disaster.

As the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Fiona has forced us to reckon with the futility of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, how easily it can be broken, and the immense recovery effort that will be required to restore the island and protect residents against future natural disasters.

Greater Boston has a thriving, vibrant Puerto Rican community with deep personal and cultural ties to the island. Together, let’s build a more resilient Puerto Rico. Like other hurricanes before it, there was no pre-surge massing of resources in anticipation of the storm; no gathering of emergency personnel or vehicles to carry out evacuation or rescue missions, address large-scale power outages, or provide access to food, medical supplies, and other necessities in the aftermath.

Despite the years that have passed, Puerto Rico is still staggering from Hurricane Maria, and Hurricane Fiona has both exposed and exacerbated the improvements needed to build more resilient systems on the island. Hurricane Fiona left a path of destruction in its wake, and Puerto Ricans are struggling to recover. Certain areas of the island experienced up to 30 inches of rainfall, and Puerto Rico’s already-struggling electricity grid failed, causing an island-wide power outage that impacted approximately 3.2 million people, 137,00 of whom are still without power. Due to the combination of devastating rains and winds, the landscape is now marked by downed trees, unsafe or washed-out roads, debris, and the persistent threat of mudslides. Thousands of residents have been displaced from their homes and nearly 66,000 have found themselves without access to drinking water.

Donate today and help the residents of Puerto Rico recover from this devasting hurricane.

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