The food and supplies that OCCTA members and partners collected for residents of Puerto Rico arrived in San Juan soon after Thanksgiving. The donations were delivered to our sister union Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico.
There is still a great need and you can still help our sisters and brothers in Puerto Rico who have not yet recovered from Hurricane Maria. The AFT and other partners are sponsoring a program, Operation Agua, to bring clean water to areas where it is desperately needed. Learn how you help bring clean, safe water to residents in Puerto Rico. Go to the AFT Operation Agua page to learn about how you can donate. From their page:
“A month after Hurricane Maria devastated their island, most Puerto Ricans still have no reliable source of safe drinking water.
American citizens of Puerto Rico are facing a massive humanitarian crisis. More than a million people still lack running water—they are forced to find water in contaminated streams, collect it from runoff, even drink from toxic Superfund sites. And the danger is not over for those with running water; because water treatment plants are still not operational, tap water may be tainted with raw sewage.
But we—YOU—can help alleviate human suffering. Through The AFT’s Operation Agua, we are bringing water purification systems to Puerto Rican families and communities who are crying out for help.
$30 provides an in-home purifier that filters and provides up to 24 liters of safe water per day to a family in need. These units require no electricity and have an estimated filter life of up to 5,000 liters.”
Help the Puerto Ricans who have relocated to Orlando
OCCTA members collected boxes of school supplies for students who have relocated to OCPS schools. We got 500 books donated from AFT’s First Books to donate to elementary schools. Still there is so much more we can do. To date over 2,500 students have entered our schools and 42 teachers have been hired in Orange County.
This Saturday, December 9th the Puerto Rican Task Force is meeting to discuss plans for helping students, teachers and families who have relocated to Orlando from Puerto Rico. The meeting will take place at the union hall, the Marion Cannon Center for Advocacy, 1020 Webster Avenue, Orlando 32804, from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm.
Our partners, Iniciativa/CASA & Maestros, AFT and the Hispanic Federation will be joining us.
You are welcome to join us to work on plans to address needs from English tutoring, resume creation, to certification issues and more.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed time and donations!
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