By Mayor Martin Walsh
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people of Puerto Rico, those who live here and those who are on the island, as they recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Maria. I am incredibly proud to share that we are stepping up as a City to support them in their time of need. Together with The Boston Foundation, we have established the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico fund, a fund that is dedicated to the relief and reconstruction of Puerto Rico and will support any Puerto Rican person arriving in Boston and the Commonwealth who have been impacted by Hurricane Maria. I encourage residents to visit https://tbf.org/puertorico to learn more about the fund.
Together we are sharing the important message to the people of Puerto Rico that we are here to help, for as long as they need. In Boston, we have a strong Puerto Rican community made up of over 32,000 residents. These residents, together with our greater Latino population, make up nearly 20 percent of our City.
In Boston, we know that our strength lies in our diversity. We take pride in being a city made up of people from all different backgrounds, representing many ethnicities and cultural heritages. Diversity shapes our neighborhoods and our identity as a city.
That’s why in September across Boston, and across the United States, we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, honoring the important contributions that members of the Hispanic community that have helped shaped Boston to be the city it is today, having influenced every sector of Boston life, from our culture, to our industries, to our economy. Hispanic heritage is an important presence in our civic life, and is an ever-growing part of Boston’s strength – today and in the future.
We’re doing everything we can to support the needs of the Hispanic community, and all the communities that make Boston such a thriving city. That’s why we’re working together to make sure that every decision we make, we make together. From early education to senior services, we will continue to build a Boston for all.
We will continue to empower the Hispanic community, and the strong diversity within the Hispanic community as well. In this time of national division, cities need to step up as leaders. That’s exactly what we’re doing in Boston. We stand for all our people. We stand for the diversity that makes our city great, because Boston is a city for everyone.
And we will reach beyond our borders to show the same level of support and compassion for the people of Boston with those in need in other parts of the country. We will lift the people of Puerto Rico up through this hard time, and will support them every step of the way. The people of Puerto Rico will always have a friend in Boston.
Please visit boston.gov/relief-efforts for more information about Boston’s efforts to support Puerto Rico, or visit https://tbf.org/puertorico to donate.