Hurricane Maria Children's Relief Fund

Hurricane Maria punished Puerto Rico with a fury the island hadn’t experienced in almost 90 years. Even before the storm, Puerto Rico was an extremely difficult place to be a child, with some of the highest child poverty rates in the United States.

With your support, we continue to help girls and boys affected by Maria and address the challenges they faced before the hurricane – and we’ll stay close to them throughout the coming year. We’re partnering with local leaders, schools and organizations to strengthen child care, early childhood development and nutrition services. Meanwhile, our humanitarian teams responded swiftly in the Carolinas, the Florida panhandle and southwest Georgia following Hurricanes Florence and Michael. We will be there for children and families on the long road to recovery.

Knowing that recovery takes years, Save the Children will continue to partner with the most affected communities in Puerto Rico for years to come. Through your support, we can build back better. Thank you!

Hurricane Maria was the last and deadliest of the Category 4 hurricanes that struck the U.S. in 2017. It reduced communities in Puerto Rico to shambles and caused an estimated 2,975 deaths. The months-long blackout was the longest and largest in U.S. history. Children missed more than 13 million days of learning. Our first team on the ground faced the challenges of not only mobilizing relief, but doing so where Save the Children had no local staff or programs.

Your compassionate support was the difference. Thanks to you, we quickly reached children and families with relief directly and through partners ranging from the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity to local groups intimately familiar with their communities. Your support enabled us to restore children’s access to learning, help children and their caregivers cope with their post-storm stress and begin preparing children and schools for the next disaster. Read the impact of your support in our Hurricane Maria One-Year Anniversary report.

Save the Children is now a strong presence in Puerto Rico and has solid relationships with mayors, community leaders, organizations and parents from the coast to the mountains. Together, we’ll work nonstop over the next year with these determined partners to support children and families through our community-based recovery strategy.

Today, Save the Children is responding to the effects of Hurricane Florence. Our emergency responders were on the ground before the hurricane hit and continue to work tirelessly to address the needs of families in shelters. Thousands were forced to evacuate their homes, fearing the worst. With up to 30 inches of rainfall measured in some communities – and some rivers yet to crest – the damage isn’t over yet. Please visit our Hurricane Florence Global Giving Page to help us continue delivering essential support to these American families in crisis.

Thank you again for supporting kids in need.