Second Puerto Rican Relief Mission Leaves NY for San Juan
Four TWU Local 100 Members – two Bus Operators, one Collecting Agent, and one CTA – boarded a flight to Puerto Rico on January 21st to assist doctors and nurses delivering care to a population still recovering from the onslaught of Hurricane Maria last year. They will be doing that work for the coming week.
The second relief mission sponsored by the union is part of a continuing effort coordinated by TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Nelson Rivera, who has been to the island twice since the weather disaster. Under the direction of President Utano, he assembled two teams in alliance with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), and its president, Judy Sheridan Gonzalez. Meeting recently with NYSNA nurses and TWU Local 100 members in Manhattan, she called the work of our members essential in providing urgently needed care to hundreds of patients in Puerto Rico.
Local 100 has set up a special account to fund our relief work in Puerto Rico. Expenses include airfare and supplies, especially the cost of gasoline for the vans we are staffing on the ground. You can donate to the TWU Local 100 Puerto Rico relief fund by clicking here. Our members on the ground in Puerto Rico this week are Bus Operators Hugo Rodriquez and Moises del Rio (Grand Avenue Vice Chair), Collecting Agent Emiliano Padilla, and CTA Jose Domenech.
NYSNA Puerto Rico Medical Mission dec09 from Drifter Creative, Inc. on Vimeo.
Photo shows our four-member team (back row) with NYSNA nurses who will be going to Puerto Rico. At right is TWU Local 100 Administrative VP Nelson Rivera. In the center, wearing a t-shirt, is Minerva Solla, one of NYSNA's two on-site coordinators for the mission, along with Lillian Sollazzo, at her left, along with Sonya Ivany former LCLAA Chair. 