A Thank You from Puerto Rico

After Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico, members and friends of St. Giles had the opportunity to support rebuilding efforts through financial contributions to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. In addition, one of our adult Sunday School classes initiated a love offering for a family living in Puerto Rico. Below is an update from the Sanchez family. Let's continue to be in prayer for them, as well as everyone else who is still recovering from the disaster.

​Hi everyone…

My name is Mario Sanchez. I am Nomar’s brother…

Nomar truly surprised me when he said your congregation gathered some money for us. We are humbled that you would do this for us. We really appreciate it.

Just so you all have an idea of what our experience was: 1 month with no water… 1 month and a half without power… Access to gasoline meant waiting 8+ hours in a 2 mile line of cars only to get turned around because they ran out. Access to drinking water meant planning a logistical strategy of divide and concur to make sure we went to all supermarkets to try to find some. More than 75 days after the hurricane and most of PR’s traffic lights are not working. If you think traffic is a pain… Try dealing with it when none of the traffic lights are functional.

In short, PR is still very much a challenge. We now have power and life is slowly getting back to normal on the island but it’s going to take a while.

It hasn’t all been bad… Many people have come together to help each other… In fact, quite like how you have done for us. We are thankful and this will help us deal with all the costs related to the storm.

Thanks…