Change of Plans

Day 3 begins with an itinerary and a plan. I mean come on, the three of us are moms. All of our days begin with a plan. We know our time in Puerto Rico is limited so we want to make the most of it and reach as many people as possible.

The agenda for the day or so we think, goes a little something like this..... buy toys for children, meet a contact who is willing to make the drive from the other side of the island to the port to help transport 4 pallets worth of goods and then head to Arecibo for the night so that we are closer to San Sebastian the following day We set out for toys but it happens to be Black Friday .... in Puerto Rico. Power is still out for much of the island so imagine waiting at busy intersections with traffic lights that are not working. It is enough to test anyone's patience.

While waiting at one such intersection, we receive a call that our contact is having difficulty borrowing a truck to help us. Time is ticking because the port closes at 3:00. We decide not to buy toys and enlist the help of family on the island to help pick up supplies. Once at the port loading box after box of donations, we receive another call that our contact will not be able to help us because he was unable to borrow the truck. Once our mini van is loaded with one pallet, we decide we need to distribute it nearby since we cannot fit all of the goods if we do not.

We head to Loiza, a small town and municipality on the northeastern coast. We stop at the police station in Loiza to inquire where our help would be needed most. Three officers escort us to the center. The drive in is unbelievable. To get where we need to be, we drive through a street where every electric pole is down and leaning against buildings. We actually drove under this tunnel of downed poles and mangled wires.

Once we arrived, we asked the officers how the people would find out we were there. They told us to open our cars and once one person comes everyone would come. In no time, we had people lining up to receive food, clothing and water. It was orderly and the people were patient and grateful. It was an amazing, humbling and beautiful experience for each of us. We felt privileged to to be there. We are grateful to the officers of Loiza who took us to this place where so many people are in need and for staying with us during distribution.

While in Loiza, we still have pallets waiting for pick up and not enough time so again a huge thank you to family for picking up the rest and letting us borrow their truck to head to the west side of the island. It's all about coming together and working together to make things happen!

Sometimes things end up differently than we plan but it can be better that way. Today was one of those days.

Distributing donations