Hurricane Maria, the tenth most-intense Atlantic storm on record, made landfall on September 20 in Puerto Rico.

This Category 5 hurricane wiped out multiple infrastructures, and in its widespread aftermath, caused the many lack of access to clean water and electricity.

Joining forces with the government and various organizations around the world to provide aid, the Hill community is also taking initiative by donating necessary items to alleviate the disaster caused by the hurricane.

Lisa Demetrio, operations manager, has had a closer look at the people’s struggles after Hurricane Maria through her neighbor Ty Olis, a native of Puerto Rico.

Olis’ friends and family in Patillas are dealing with the aftermath of the storm, so and he wants to help his loved ones along with those in needs.

To support Olis’ project, Demetrio has reached out to the Hill community for donations of non perishable food, batteries and flashlights. In the past week, many Hill students and family have been dropping off necessary items and cash in the Business Office to help the people through this difficult time.

Quintin Mastrangelo ’18, president of the Young Republican Club at Hill, supported the project for disaster relief. With baked goods in addition to those donated from the dining hall, Mastrangelo and club members held a bake sale in the student center. The bake sale raised $500 in total.

“I felt that [Olis’ project] would be a worthy cause to put our resources towards to help do some good for the Americans who are unfortunately still suffering without power at the moment,” Mastrangelo said. “I firmly believe that those who have the ability to do something good also have the responsibility to do so.”

The money, combined with the funds that Demetrio collected raised, exceeded $2,000. The money went into purchasing bottled water, canned food, and necessary other goods to be shipped to Puerto Rico.

All items filled a school bus, but the loading only took 15 minutes with the support from

Hill’s boys hockey team.

Human Resources Director Heather Gelting was grateful when the team came to give a hand as they sped up the process of delivering aid.

“Thankfully Mr. Yinger and the team volunteered to help us loading load all the supplies onto the bus,” Gelting said. “The boys have made it really easy. It would have taken me and Mrs. Demetrio a whole afternoon to finish loading everything.”

Hill’s Alumni Association connected with an alumnus who is living in Puerto Rico.

He created an organization called “Water for Puerto Rico,” since clean water is no longer accessible, hoping to establish a long-term solution to this problem.

His group also has an Amazon wish list of essential items to help the local town.

Once purchased, the items will be directly delivered to the place in need.

The alumni office also helped him getting get in touch with other Hill graduates who are willing to give a hand. The number of members has increased every day, exceeding over 300 members in the past week.

The communication effort has extended beyond campus, as the Pottstown Mercury published an article about Hill’s donation to Puerto Rico.

The news spread throughout the Pottstown community. A woman from Houston, Texas – where Hurricane Harvey landed has affected – learned about the donation through the Mercury article during her visit in Pottstown.

She generously donated $100 to the project, sharing the her sympathy with those who are now dealing with the similar issues that she did.