CLEVELAND, Ohio — As the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico slowly recovers from a devastating earthquake, families in the Cleveland area are watching closely.
“We haven’t recovered from Hurricane Maria and now something like this hits us, it’s like when is it going to stop," asks Rosa Morales who has family and students dealing with the aftermath. "When are we actually going to be able to recover from all of this," she questioned.
Morales is a Spanish teacher at School of Global Studies at Lincoln West High School. She and ten of her students are planning a community service trip to Puerto Rico in March.
Cleveland students organize to serve Puerto Rico after devastating earthquake
The Lifting Puerto Rico Youth Project began in response to Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“This year we were thrown with this earthquake and now we’re like our project has to extend, we are going to go to six cities in Puerto Rico,” says Morales.
The planned one-week trip will now last for two-weeks.
The students will participate in various projects like planting 100 trees, creating community gardens and working with students in Puerto Rico.
One of her students who is visiting the island is stuck and sleeping outside at a baseball field until he can get a flight back. People are afraid to stay in their homes in case there are more aftershocks. He too will be going back to Puerto Rico in March to assist with the volunteer effort.
There will be a gala on February 23rd to help raise money for the project. The group is looking into venues in hopes one will sponsor the event.
If you’d like to donate, call 216.838.7050.