Giving Thanks Also Means Giving Back

Hello, lovelies! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! I spent mine in Houston, TX with friends from Puerto Rico and it was so great! That feeling of familiarity is absolutely necessary when you’re so far from home. Last year, we spent Thanksgiving in Mexico City, and since it’s not really celebrated as a Holiday, hubby and I ended up having dinner at a quaint seafood restaurant. I was just thankful to have my husband be able to visit me while I was working in Mexico. This year, I yearned for some family time and a real Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderful time with our friends’ family and they even had Veggie Friendly options in the menu, which was great since I’m still trying to follow a plant-based diet.

We also had a chance to explore a little bit of Houston and visited the Buffalo Bayou Park, which had been ravaged by Hurricane Harvey floods. We could see the damage but there was great restoration progress. It was nice to see how Houston is getting back on its feet. My biggest hope is to see my beautiful island of Puerto Rico, which was hit by TWO back to back hurricanes this season, Irma and Maria, do the same. I am still so grateful to the Universe that my family and friends back home are ok and their homes did not suffer any substantial damage. They were very fortunate, especially in comparison to so many people who lost everything. It is sad, but us Caribbeans are a resilient people, and Puerto Ricans always maintain high spirits no matter what. I’ve been doing everything I can to help, even though I’m far from home. Helping from far is difficult, but not impossible. Through different organizations like Unidos por Puerto Rico, AT&T Employee Resource Groups, and Puerto Rico Rising, I’ve been able to give back to my island. If you wish to contribute please consider these organizations, who have already made great strides in trying to help the people get back on their feet, but there is still so much work to be done!

Here are the current stats:

67 Days after Maria
Status.pr reports:
*58% power generation (generation doesn’t mean consumption; the government doesn’t provide that number)
*93% of people have water (boil advisory in effect)
*1,154 survivors remain in the 42 shelters that are still open