Hi, my name is Sucelys Alvarez. I was born in Pinar del Rio Cuba where Hurricane Ian hit the town last September 27th, 2022.
Here is a little bit of my story and why I have created this organization along with my family.
My father left Cuba when I was two and a half years old, looking for opportunities to give us a better life. My mom then was a single mother of two little girls. It was 1994 when there was a great depression going at that time, as you can imagine my mother struggled just to keep food at the table among other things, in other words our living condition was deplorable.
Due to the system getting worst my parents felt the need to leave the island at all costs. Seven times we got on rafts and small boats to escape, but due to bad weather we had to return back. The last time we tried leaving I was seven years old, we actually reached the coast of Florida but again our luck ran out one last time, the engine failed and my father who was the one driving the boat had to call for help. The USA coastguards came to recue us, they kept us in their ship for over two weeks until they decided to take my sister, my mom and I back to Cuba, once again we were separeted from my dad.
When we returned to our house, it was completely empty, people assumed we had made it to Miami and just took everything they could. However, when we returned many neighbors and family members gathered to help my mom and provide us with as much as they could. I remember not wanting to leave my mom alone for one second, I helped her get things back, go door to door trying to gather as many things as we could, and together we were able to slowly get back on our feet. This was probably the worst experience that I have ever encountered and no one specially a child should ever have to go through. I cannot change the system but I can do a lot to at least help the people who are in need by providing them with the necesities one needs to continue living.
Stories like this are no suprise for the Cuban community as there are so many more stories from people to tell due to the poor system. Today people are hungry, sick, and helpless. They are in need of food, medicine, in fact they are in need of everything.
My family currently lives in Pinal del Rio and recently they were hit by hurricane Ian, it entered the town at category 5, leaving behind disasters everywhere. Many people are homeless because they lost everything in the storm. They have no power, or water. The hospitals have no medicine, beds, or supplies to care for the sick.
I am reaching out to everyone who could help donate anything they can so that we can complete our mission to help those in need. Many are hopeless, worried what they are going to feed their kids next. Many have lost their homes and their things along with it. Many are sick and in pain and their only choice is to wait, but ogether with this fundraiser we can end much of this suffering as we stand out our hands and help them get through this rough time.
We will be shipping items to the island as well as using our contacts to support the local farmers to provide families with clean food. Our first mission is to feed as many falilies as we can and as we grow, we will move into funding the hospitals and schools.
Please share our story.
