HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Two humanitarian organizations based in Hampton Roads are now in Puerto Rico, providing aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.
Operation Blessing deployed its U.S. Disaster Relief Team and they arrived in San Juan on Tuesday. Much of the island is still without power.
“We were very fortunate. The individuals that were able to make it down yesterday afternoon were able to make it on the road quickly,” stated Anthony Lloyd, senior director of Operation Blessing’s U.S. disaster relief team.
Lloyd said they’ve already started distributing compact solar lanterns and will also be assisting with clean water and cleaning supplies. In fact, he said they already had 250 buckets full of things like garbage bags, gloves, hand sanitizer, and face masks - in a Puerto Rico warehouse.
On Thursday, a team from Operation Blessing and the Home Depot Foundation will put together nearly 800 disaster relief kits at the Newport News Home Depot to replenish Operation Blessing’s supply.
Also in Puerto Rico, Portsmouth-based Mercy Chefs. They will be serving hot meals to the residents.
“We’ll receive that food and start cooking as soon as possible,” said Megan LeBlanc, the communications director for Mercy Chefs. “From the main base, we’ll work on a delivery network from there with local churches.”
Lloyd said, “We always like to say thank you to the individuals who help us because we couldn’t do this without people who support us.”
Both organizations say they plan to be in Puerto Rico for at least two weeks. They also assisted with efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, five years ago this week.
For information on how you can help, you can visit the website of Operation Blessing and Mercy Chefs.
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