CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Donated supplies to help the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico are finally on its way to the island and the people who need them.
The donations were collected by the Puerto Rico Cultural Society of Charlotte, but the Society had trouble finding a way to get them shipped to Puerto Rico.
In what some are now calling the answer to a prayer, a company called Restore Global stepped in to help.
NBC Charlotte had reported on the stranded supplies a week ago.
Restore Global’s founder and CEO Steven Wray heard the story and offered the company’s help.
Debbie Guerrero from the Society said supplies are still being donated and now the donations will get to where they are needed.
“People are hearing about it and they are bringing their stuff here cause at least we now have a method to get it out," Guerrero said.
The first load of the donations was being put into a huge truck at the Society’s warehouse.
That truck and others to follow will carry the supplies to Jacksonville, Fla., where the supplies will then be loaded on a ship bound for San Juan.
Guerrero says the interior of the island is still little better than a wasteland after Maria moved out, leaving people with no power, no fresh water and very little food.
Guerrero feels the desperation as she, like many others, has family on the island.
“I’m hearing that they are not seeing government people on the ground to help in bringing food out to the middle of the island, so that is why I’m here doing this,” she said.
Other trucks will be loaded tomorrow and more on Friday.