UF Center for Latin American Studies
September 26, 2017
10/10/2017 UPDATE: We continue to collect donations! Please continue to bring your donations to one of the drop-off locations mentioned below.
Dear UF Community,
Thank you so much for all your donations so far. We have received word from the Coalition of Immokalee workers that they have had an overwhelming amount of support and are not in need of the supplies that we have collected. So that is good news on that front.
In light of that, we will be redirecting supplies to help with relief efforts in Puerto Rico to help them with recovery from the immense devastation suffered at the hands of Hurricane Maria. Some elements of this you may or may not know but the White House has yet to decide if they will send monetary aid to the island. Also, Puerto Rico is not allowed to receive aid or shipments from countries outside of the United States due to the Jones Act which requires that all shipments to Puerto Rico have to go through a United States port and be delivered on a United States ship. The White House has also declined to suspend this rule despite the immense need on the island and offers from other countries to support.
That being said we really need to come together and help the people of Puerto Rico even more because of the precarious situation they find themselves in as a colonized island of the United States.
We will be collecting for the next two weeks optimistically and if needs continue beyond that. Below are some of the things we need as well as different drop-off locations on UF campus.
Drop off locations include are:
UF Graduate Assistants United Office - Yon 224 Tuesday and Thursday 2-4 PM and Wednesday from 1:30 to 3:30 PM.
Center for Latin American Studies - 3rd Floor Grinter Hall, 8 AM to NOON and 1 PM to 5 PM
Center for African Studies at the University of Florida (MDP Office) - Grinter 470 from 9 AM to 5 PM
La Salita in the Reitz Union UF Multicultural & Diversity Affairs Office from 9 AM to 7 PM
Harn Museum of Arts (front desk) - 3259 Hull Road. Tue-Fri, 11am-5pm; Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 1pm-5pm. Also at Museum Nights on Thursday, October 12 until 9pm.
Please share and contribute to help Puerto Rico.
