14:18 – Uneac, Martin Luther King Center, Bridges of Love… join in the management of aid for victims
Various organizations such as the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac), the Martin Luther King Memorial Center, the CDR, the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers or the Puentes de Amor organization were activated in the last few hours to collect aid from Havana and international networks for families in the eastern provinces affected by Hurricane Melissa.
Between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday, Uneac receives donations at its national headquarters, in the International Relations department, located on 17th Street, corner of H, El Vedado, the organization states in a statement in Facebook.
For his part, the Martin Luther King Memorial Center It operates 24 hours a day at Avenida 53 No. 9609, between 96 and 98, Marianao, where it accepts clothing, toiletries, non-perishable food and supplies. As announced in a publication, just hours after the cyclone passed, a full container of supplies arrived that will be sent entirely to the hardest hit areas.
Carlos Lazothe Cuban-American teacher organizer of the Bridges of Love movement, has been mobilizing solidarity from the United States, Canada, Mexico and other countries since yesterday. “When the family is in danger, differences are put aside and the suffering brother is tenderly embraced,” Lazo wrote in Facebook.
According to him, his group, which coordinates humanitarian shipments and alliances with Cuban entities to expedite distribution, will have its men and women at its disposal, “doing their bit of solidarity for the Cuban family.”
The MSME Conexiones Nuevo Mundo, from Matanzas, delivered 200 pairs of tennis shoes—one hundred for children and one hundred for adults—along with a batch of clothing destined for the affected provinces. The announcement was made from the national headquarters of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR).
Also there, the singer Israel Rojas, leader of the group Buena Fe, asked put aside ideological differences to help, when “many Cubans are homeless, going through a very difficult situation.”
“It is never too late to join forces,” he said, while calling to “put our chests forward” in the face of the other hurricane that is breaking out now, “that of solidarity.”
For its part, the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers has called “to our entire community wherever it is, once the phenomenon is over, to provide the necessary aid that can be coordinated institutionally, independently or privately.”
