The feeling of benevolence is apparently contagious for Nick and Joseph Russo.
Nick Russo, 23, of Pen Argyl is on an aid mission to Puerto Rico, his third relief effort in the past few months, where he brought much needed manpower to the Hurricane-ravished island in the Caribbean.
“These are our people and somebody needs to respond.”
The Russo’s formed an organization called the American Way – with the idea that through a network of volunteers and donors nationwide, it could provide disaster relief for those in crisis.
Nick, Danny Soloman and Greg Kubasek made the trip to Puerto Rico to lend a hand.
“We are going up into the mountains and trying to find the little pockets of people who don’t have food and water and handing out water filters,” Nick said. “They are using rain water and river water. The rain water gets contaminated after a few days and isn’t safe and the people are using the rivers for all kinds of things.”
The filters are part of a shipment of supplies raised locally by a group called Poconos for Puerto Rico, Russo said. American Way in conjunction with Governor Wolf’s Advisory Committee to Latino Affairs sent a trailer with 10 pallets of donations to Puerto Rico. American Way will be in Puerto Rico until Dec. 1 delivering Sawyer water filters, supplies, toiletries, medical assistance, and fresh water to communities deep in the mountains, to those who moved into the mountain caves, and to search out Veterans with Veterans Disaster Relief, a non-profit dedicated to assisting Veterans.
The Russo are a tag team. Joseph, Nick’s father, helps coordinate the logistics stateside. Nick raises awareness and collects donations and delivers them to the disaster areas.
The Puerto Rico crisis is not being treated like the other disasters.
“I was in Texas and Florida,” Nick said. “Puerto Rico isn’t getting the same response.”
Nick and Joseph displayed pictures of the storm-torn island.
“Once word got out, we started making direct connections with those on the island and Puerto Rico became a reality, personal, and not so far out of reach,” Joseph said. “This is about creating sustainable relationships, providing a chance for people to come together to help, and making real impacts on lives impacted by loss and traumatic experiences.”
This isn’t the Russo’s first dance with disaster relief. They organized supplies drives – collecting food, toiletries, pet supplies and children’s books – and delivering it to those who suffered through the hurricanes that destroyed so many homes in Texas and Florida recently.
Nick said that when the community responded with such an outpouring of support for their efforts in Texas and Florida, they decided to create a non-profit organization and expand efforts to provide help to those in need nationally.
They used social media to get the word out of their efforts and show donors how their giving was benefiting the people of Puerto Rico.
“People want to help and give, but sometimes do not know where their donations are going,” Nick said. “I wanted to do this different. With America Way and the use of social media, we gave anyone who wants to be a humanitarian a way to donate then see how the donations are used. People can personally watch us deliver help and feel they are truly right there with us.”
Nick, a National Guard member, was joined by eight other local volunteers on the trip to Puerto Rico, including U.S. military members Soloman and Kubasek, who, with Russo, will stay until Dec. 1 distributing the supplies.
American Way continues to collect goods such as shelf stable food, water, hygiene products, cleaning supplies, household items, and pet food throughout the year, Joseph said. The supplies collected are distributed to victims of local tragedies like house fires as well as to victims of nationwide disasters like hurricanes. To donate or request assistance visit America Way Disaster Relief on Facebook, call 610-703-4887, or email americanwaydisaster@gmail.com.
“One hundred percent of the funds go directly to helping those who are suffering from devastating life events to make a difference in their lives, and to start putting the pieces of their lives back together,” he said.
