UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — From her childhood home of Galeton in northern Pennsylvania, Penn State graphic design alumna Kelly Thompson launched and continues to lead a relief effort for her adopted home of Vieques, Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in late September.
On Sept. 20, while the category-five hurricane was battering Vieques, an island located 8miles east of the Puerto Rican mainland, Thompson established ViequesLove, knowing the island would need help — and quickly. What started as a crowdfunding effort to raise $50,000 grew into a fund capable of providing immediate support to the island before government relief arrived, as well as volunteers with strong connections to the island. The organization has now raised more than $830,000 — and counting.
ViequesLove organized one of the first flights to land on the island runway post-hurricane, armed with communication tools and much-needed satellite phones that allowed communication within the island and also between the island and the continental United States.
“Being among the first people from the outside world to successfully get help into the island thrust our team into a level of responsibility that none of us anticipated — but all of us embraced,” said Thompson, who has lived on Vieques for the past 14 years. “We took leaves of absences from work, put aside family and other obligations, and worked intently on the needs communicated to us by our team on the ground. Our sole purpose is to work for a better tomorrow for Vieques.”