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12/06/2017 07:18 AMIt has been more than 60 days since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and a broad swathe of the Caribbean island remains without power. Chester resident Ray Guasp is still on his mission to bring the beleaguered residents clean drinking water, but the Vets4 Puerto Rico program has now expanded into assisting FEMA with the distribution of assets that are much needed.
Guasp says that the partnership with FEMA makes sense for everyone. FEMA has 16,000 people doing relief work in Puerto Rico, but, as those workers are serving 3.4 million residents, FEMA can bring in enough supplies but can’t distribute the supplies once they hit the ground. During the time that the Vets4 team Aqua Dogs team is taking the Aquamira Divvy water purification systems around the island, it has handed out about 500 five-gallon water jugs (with more coming), five pallets of snack packs, 10,000 hygiene kits, and 48 pallets of camp kits. Every family is eligible for the kits, which contain blankets, a camp stove, fuel, and a set of Lodge cast iron pans.
When he’s not in Puerto Rico, Guasp and his business partner do orthopedic medical supply distribution and sales across the East Coast. He had the idea of Vets4 Puerto Rico after spending time in Houston after Hurricane Harvey doing relief work with a group of veterans called the Regular Guys. In just two days, the group distributed 150,000 pounds of water, plus food, personal hygiene products, and other supplies to flooded Texas residents who saw 50-plus inches of rain.
The Marine veteran says that he is at a point in his life when he can contribute back to society. A single dad who is now an empty nester with both kids in college at the University of Hartford, Guasp said that he has the time to give communities in need and Puerto Rico was a no-brainer since his family is from Puerto Rico and he raised his kids spending time there.
Guasp has been personally footing the bill for all of his flights in and out of Puerto Rico, most often with 10 or more bags and water purification systems purchased with donated funds, and rent a Jeep to drive the supplies around to remote villages. The airlines and car rental companies are no longer offering discounts to aid volunteers. The other volunteers who work with Guasp have also been paying their way.
All of this adds up quickly, and the group’s GoFund Me page www.gofundme.com/veterans4puertorico has almost stalled in donation activity.
Guasp thinks that since the hurricane was more than two months ago, people outside of Puerto Rico have moved on and forgotten how bad the devastation still is on the island. Some areas of the island are not expected to see power restored until August 2018.
“Our main goal is to get these needed supplies in the hands of the residents,” Guasp explains. “We don’t need more volunteers to go to Puerto Rico because that would just be more bodies taking up resources that the people who live there need. The ideal situation would be that the residents are self-sufficient.”
And, if another hurricane hits Puerto Rico, Guasp says that the residents will be better prepared because they will have the water filtration systems that Vets4 has brought already on the ground. A Florida company, Pulse Technologies, has donated a laptop and software to assist with future logistics and distribution.
Guasp laughs about some of the things that have been shipped to the island since Maria hit. One generous soul sent a crate of ham sandwiches that rotted because no one knew what was in the box and another donor sent a crate of winter coats—not exactly necessary when the seasonal temperature in the tropical climate is in the 80s and 90s. All of the crates of supplies that have been shipped in also create a concern about the volume of garbage that the island will have to contend with, especially the millions of plastic water bottles that are piling up.
The recovery of Puerto Rico will be lengthy and Guasp is concerned about what the long-term aftermath will bring citizens. As a Marine veteran who has seen the mental strain that can result when people face disastrous situations, he sees a growing concern for the residents who might suffer longstanding post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the tragic adversity Puerto Ricans are facing. He notes that there was a sharp rise in PTSD after the Gulf oil spill among the population of the Gulf shore.
Asked what his date for Vets4 to be out of Puerto Rico, Guasp says that it will most likely be when the reconstruction begins. He says that rebuilding is not the forte of his team of former and active military members. They are trained to get into an area, provide relief, and move on. He believes that his experience with logistics and distribution can be better used wherever the next disaster occurs.
One hundred percent of donations to Vets4 Puerto Rico’s GoFund Me page (www.gofundme.com/veterans4puertorico) go straight to the relief efforts. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/veterans4 or veterans4.org.