Lin-Manuel Miranda has a simple, yet emotional request: Pay attention to Puerto Rico.
In a guest column for the Hollywood Reporter, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright called for people to donate supplies, food and money to Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
“Puerto Ricans need supplies and resources just as badly as their fellow Americans in Texas and Florida,” Miranda wrote. “And this need is magnified by their geographic isolation from the mainland.”
The “Hamilton” creator shared what his family ― including his two cousins, an aspiring veterinarian and medical student ― went through while waiting out the recent and powerful storm.
Miranda wrote of the loss of his grandfather’s “wooden dream home,” which was built by hand. He also discussed the “3.4 million stories on this island, all struggling in the aftermath of this storm, and they need your help.”
Thank you all for making noise on behalf of our island. Making more noise/raising more 💰 for 🇵🇷 as we speak (that you can dance to)#wait4it
Hurricane Maria made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico, causing devastating floods and cutting off much of the island’s power and cellular service for millions of people. The storm has killed at least 16 people. according to the Los Angeles Times who has a reporter on the ground. But that number is expected to rise as rescuers reach remote areas.
Miranda has been encouraging people to donate to the nonprofit the Hispanic Federation, which is donating 100 percent of its hurricane relief fund to recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.
Although Miranda said he hasn’t heard from his family since Friday, he is staying hopeful.
“Praying no news is good news,” he tweeted at a fan on Tuesday.
In his column for the Hollywood Reporter, Miranda asked people to show the victims of Maria the same amount of compassion that they did for those who were affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida.
“My late grandfather’s dream home is in pieces — the roof and the porch, gone,” Miranda wrote.
“Thankfully Noah’s Ark across the road still stands,” he added, referencing his uncle’s concrete home which held his cousin’s many animals.
“My family was very lucky,” Miranda continued.
“But they and their fellow American citizens on the island now face a host of mounting crises — a lack of running water, a shattered power grid, days without electricity and telephone service and access to the wider world.”
You can find more information on how to donate to the Hispanic Federation here. For other ways to help out with Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts, visit the link here.
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