Members of the Spring of Blessing Church in Haines City have created an organization called Healing Our Land, or Sanado Nuestra Tierra in Spanish.

  • Spring of Blessing church members create new organization
  • Healing Our Land (Sanado Nuestra Tierra) aims to help restore Puerto Rico
  • Group collected food, clothes, water and hygiene products

The goal is to help restore Puerto Rico, where many of the members come from.

On Saturday, the group, with the help of Spanish club students from Daniel Jenkins Academy, held a Puerto Rico Help Fest at Lake Eva Park to collect donations.

People dropped off food, clothes, water and hygiene products. One of the group’s founders, Carlos Burgos, said they already have a storage room full of donations. He estimates they’ve collected hundreds of boxes of items.

Burgos said the plan is to ship the items over in a container. Seven members of the group plan to go to Puerto Rico the second week of November to pick up the container at the port in San Juan, and head to Caguas. From there, they plan to work with several dozen people on the ground to distribute the items, mainly in the hardest hit areas such as Yabucoa, Humacao, Adjuntas, Utuado, and Isabela.

“It’s terrible it’s really saddening,” said Burgos. “These are places where we grew up when we were children. We’ve been getting a lot of people we know over there who’ve been asking us for specific stuff.”

His grandmother, Carmen Laboy, attended the help fest. She evacuated the island on Oct. 6, with her mentally disabled daughter. She said the home on top of hers is completely gone.  

“I saw my daughter’s house all over the patio of my home,” said Laboy, as she recalled going outside for the first time after Hurricane Maria.

With no electricity or running water in their town of Humacao, and long lines to find medicine, she’s grateful she and her daughter were able to come to Florida.

“I am happy one part. And I’m sad because of my people in Puerto Rico are still suffering. My husband is still there,” Laboy said.

She called it a nightmare getting out, having to endure three canceled flights. If it weren’t for the governor’s secretary intervening and securing her a flight, she doesn’t know where she’d be.

“It’s like an angel who came from heaven to help us,” Laboy said.

While in Florida, she’s helping her family collect food for those still suffering on the island.

“FEMA, I am urging them to please, please take action now. Don’t wait too long,” Laboy said.

“I haven’t been able to sleep for the past two or three weeks,” said Burgos.  “With this activity and the trip, we know we have to get ready emotionally. It’s going to be very devastating for us but it’s going to be pleasant to see the people we love and give them the things that they need.”