Dear Friend, Puerto Rico's 3.2 million people were without electricity after the brutal landing of Hurricane Fiona this weekend. Firsthand reports from our partners described the evacuation of families, lack of energy and water, and farmers salvaging what remained of their crops in the aftermath. We are taking the first steps to respond to the crisis on the ground. Please donate to the Puerto Rico Emergency Response Fund. 100% of the funds will be directed to frontline organizations to cover immediate needs like transportation, food, clothing, and construction materials, and costs around organizing and advocacy. Our allies are organizing solidarity brigades in the same fashion and preparedness as after Hurricane Maria. They will need resources to support neighbors and families who have been displaced and have lost their homes, crops, and means of transportation. Your support will go a long way to help them. As in the past, our crisis response is centered on communities' short- and long-term needs to build solutions to structural problems. In the case of Puerto Rico, its colonized position – imposed over the years by Spain and the US – is reflected in how poorly the US and Puerto Rican governments responded to the damages caused by Hurricane Maria five years ago. The privatization of the power grid has also contributed to frequent power outages, even before Hurricane Fiona. As we learned with Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rican communities are concerned that the lack of infrastructure will speed up forced displacement and dispossession of their housing and farmlands. We must uphold sovereignty and resist disaster capitalism. Our partners are building community-owned solar energy, using agroecological practices toward food sovereignty, and organizing to defend land and territory to generate a better future for Puerto Ricans – on their own terms. Critically, your support to these organizations during this emergency enables them to carry out first response efforts without depleting their resources so they can continue to mobilize around long-term solutions towards systemic change. Contribute now. Ask your friends and family to support and learn more about Grassroots International and its partners' climate justice vision. Beyond response from one crisis to another, let's build a future together where we can all live in solidarity and dignity. | 
