Law student Monica Gonzalez was born in Puerto Rico and still has family living there.
So when Hurricane Maria ravaged the country recently, her heart and attention turned to the well-being of loved ones left combing through the wreckage of a natural disaster that has left the nation reeling.
Monica Gonzalez
“My aunt and uncle live in Guaynabo, near the capital of San Juan, and they just got power back a few days ago,” said Gonzalez, a second-year law student who also serves as the secretary of the Minority Law Caucus student organization at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.
She added the town where her parents grew up, Aguadilla, is a particularly hard-hit town on the island’s west coast, where relief supplies have been slow to surface.
Gonzalez this month spearheaded an effort by the S.J. Quinney College of Law’s Minority Law Caucus to gather donations and supplies to Puerto Rico. Initial donations were shipped on Saturday and the student organization is continuing its effort to gather monetary donations from the College of Law community through Venmo (donations can still be sent to Minority Law Caucus treasurer Carlos Quijada —@Carlos-Quijada —through the app). All monetary donations collected will be sent to Unidos por Puerto Rico at the end of the month.
“There is so much help need in Puerto Rico so I truly appreciate everyone who has reached out asking me how they can help,” Gonzalez said.