Ricky Martin has been working tirelessly to help those in Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria. The singer opened up about what his experience was like visiting the island and what it will take to help its people overcome the effects of the storm.
“What you see on television doesn’t do justice to the reality of Puerto Rico,” the singer told Us Weekly and other reporters at an Ocean Drive magazine’s fundraising event to benefit Puerto Rico at WALL nightclub at the W Hotel South Beach on Tuesday, October 10. “We are still dealing with 4 million U.S. citizens who still have no power, no medicine, no baby formula, no diapers after 15 days since this happened.”
He explained, “People are dying. I talked to victims who had to bury relatives in the backyard because no help came until after 10 days. It is a nightmare but I want to celebrate because people from all over the world are saying, ‘We want to help.’”
“I don’t sleep, I’m in creative mode trying to see how we can bring love and hope to my people in Puerto Rico,” Martin said, adding that Governor Alejandro García Padilla said it will take at least $90 billion to repair the damages. “We are alive. Even though we lost everything, we didn’t lose hope, we are smiling, and we’re fighting for what needs to happen for Puerto Rico to be back to what it was.”
The “She Bangs” singer revealed that he previously teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to help after the tsunami in Thailand and after the earthquake in Haiti, and plans to do that for the island on which he grew up. He added, “I want to do the same thing for Puerto Rico. Just in one region I visited, 1,000 families lost absolutely everything and those are a thousand homes that I want to build. It’s heavy.”
So far, the father of two has been able to raise more than $3 million but said that more is needed. To donate to the Puerto Rico relief fund, visit youcaring.com/rickymartin.
