Philadelphia-area nonprofits unite to help Puerto Rico

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia's growing Latino population means a number of local organizations often work to serve the needs of the Hispanic community in Philadelphia and beyond.

"Philadelphia is one of the most concentrated populations of Puerto Ricans," said Nilda Ruiz, CEO of Association Puertorrinuqeños en Marcha (APM), which is located in North Philadelphia.

APM is one of the dozens of local organizations that are part of Unidos Pa Puerto Rico, which both translates to "United for Puerto Rico" and uses the "Pa" to stand for Pennsylvania.

"We just had a meeting yesterday and we're going to meet today. We have over 40 nonprofits," said Ruiz.

Unidos Pa Puerto Rico connects Pennsylvania's resources to Puerto Rico's needs.

"The southern part of the island got hit really, really hard," said Ruiz.

SEE ALSO: How to help people in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Fiona

The damage was left in the wake of Hurricane Fiona. It hit Puerto Rico on Sunday, with rain, wind and floods. More than a million people still don't have power and two-thirds of people don't have clean water. But water is not what this group is looking to collect.

"Everything just gets bottlenecked," said Ruiz of Unidos Pa PR's previous efforts to send supplies after the group formed in response to Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico in 2017.

Learning that lesson, the organization is now focused on collecting money recalling how some would-be donors after Hurricane Maria didn't always know how to give.

"While a lot of people were well-intentioned, they were confused about where to send the money," said Adonis Banegas, executive director of Concilio, which will take on the fiduciary responsibility of overseeing the collection and distribution of the donations. The CEOs of the 40 non-profits that form Unidos will serve as the governance of the donation fund.

The group used the same process when they raised about $400,000 to help people in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. They didn't solely focus on larger groups for providing aid.

"We're literally connecting with fishermen, and local churches and people who needed the exact money," said Banegas.

"100% of the money that is donated will be given to Puerto Rico," said Ruiz.

Using a finance committee and public reports for transparency, Unidos will not operate through the government. Realizing that the donation of items can work better in some circumstances, Unidos includes organizations like Tools 4 Success, which collects specific items that communities request for disaster recovery.

"We do need medicine. We do need solar power. All of that will be collected in certain locations," said Sarah Vanga of Tools 4 Success adding that the locations will be in Philadelphia and Allentown.

The Salvation Army of the Greater Philadelphia Area is also part of the efforts by Unidos. They're helping on the ground in Puerto Rico since the organization has an established presence there.

"We were able to send from Philadelphia almost 1,100 cleanup kits," said Major Tawny Cowen-Zanders of the Wednesday morning shipment.

Unidos Pa Puerto Rico is collecting donations via text. You can text PRFIONA2022 to 44321 to donate. They'll also be collecting donations at Sunday's Puerto Rican Day parade in Philadelphia.