Earthquake relief efforts
in Puerto Rico

Salvador Gómez-Colón, one of our partners who brought Luci lights to the earthquake victims participated on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Salvador was among a group of young activists discussing climate change issues which included Greta Thunberg. 

Click on the here to watch the video.

For the full TIME article click here.

B&R Emergency Training and Response Corp have distributed over 800 Luci EMRG lights throughout Puerto Rico!

Since the earthquake struck, Direct Relief has sent 38 shipments of specifically requested medicine and medical supplies to 6 different recipients on the island. Direct Relief’s Puerto Rico staff has been visiting the community health centers and shelters with teams of doctors and psychologists, assessing needs and helping to provide the supplies and infrastructure for people to get the medical care they need right now. Additionally, Direct Relief have been distributing Luci lights to the local residents.

Hundreds of lights are on their way to Puerto Rico today, thanks to our partnership with Americares and Amazon Disaster Relief!

"This was the sweetest man! I asked him if he needed anything and he said tranquillity and peace. He was positive in the mist of chaos. So many earthquakes today. This neighborhood got affected!"

- Harper 4 Humanity

Our amazing partners on the ground start distributing light to those who need it. Stay safe guys.

Around 9 a.m. local time, another earthquake has caused further damage, mainly in areas around the southern coast.

According to Americares, as of January 9th, 20 shelters were open in PR with 1,792 total occupants.  Damages were reported at two major power generation plants, one of which is expected to be down for an extended period of time.  Communications are anticipated to degrade over the next few days as back-up power generators run out of fuel. FEMA reported that out of the 48 health care facilities that are open, 25 are running on generator power.

We are working with Americares and Amazon Disaster Relief to provide lights and mobile chargers to those affected.

Inspirational teenager, Salvadore Gomez Colon, who turned his "fear into hope" and was featured on CNN for his efforts during Hurricane Maria, is supporting the relief efforts again. MPOWERD has donated ~200 lights for Salvadore and his mother to distribute on their upcoming relief trip.

In 2018, hip hop pioneer ‘Crazy Legs’ of the Rock Steady Crew, traveled to Puerto Rico to aid the island with our lights after Hurricane Maria. MPOWERD is fortunate to have such a connected individual as ‘Legs’ back at it again as a true first responder, deploying clean emergency Luci lights and mobile chargers to those impacted. Thanks Legs!

Also, special thanks to Jamie Harper for personally collecting and delivering the lights to Crazy Legs!

Harper 4 Humanity is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that provides disaster response and critical aid to those impacted by disasters. We first started working with the organization during Hurricane Maria and are thankful to be partnering again!

Jamie Harper, the organization's founder, visited our office in Brooklyn to collect over 200 lights to be personally distributed to those affected in Puerto Rico. The entire office was mobilized to help pack the lights, including our CEO Seungah Jeong and our founder John Salzinger. 

300+ lights distributed via our on-the-ground partner Alejandro Marin and Direct Relief. We first met Alejandro during our Hurricane Maria relief efforts, and are so fortunate to be working with him again!

"Unfortunately Puerto Rico cannot catch a break from natural disasters.  I keep getting reports from my family members there about the persistent seismic activity on the island.  They use this app called Quakefeed for updates and as of 9:30pm last night they had relayed to me reports of some minor quakes which had reached 4.3 magnitude.

Direct Relief is currently conducting missions in the southern part of Puerto Rico where communities were affected the most.  They are distributing the LUCIs we donated as we speak!"

- Alejandro Marin

Our Founder John Salzinger mobilized the team to start powering up our lights ready for pick up from some of our local partners!

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake, followed by numerous powerful aftershocks, has hit Puerto Rico. This is the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 102 years. We are working with organizations and individuals to provide light and energy resources to the region. Stay tuned for updates.