ESPN’s Marly Rivera is raising money to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico Wednesday and wreaked incredible devastation. Power was knocked out across the island and may not return for months, and many buildings suffered severe damage, including the famed Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Marly Rivera, the ESPN and ESPN Deportes baseball writer and Nación ESPN co-host, is trying to help in the wake of the disaster, launching a “Don’t Forget Puerto Rico Fund“:

https://twitter.com/MarlyRiveraESPN/status/910927431397253120

https://twitter.com/MarlyRiveraESPN/status/910935974468780033

https://twitter.com/MarlyRiveraESPN/status/910942206885842944

https://twitter.com/MarlyRiveraESPN/status/910941566126215173

Here’s more information from the GoFundMe page Rivera set up:

Hi everyone, this is Marly Rivera from ESPN and ESPN Deportes. I can’t stand idle, I need to do something for the people in my island.  

The island of Puerto Rico was directly hit by Hurricane Maria on Wednesday. A power outage is currently covering the entire island nation of 3.4 million U.S. citizens, and officials say it may be several months before Puerto Ricans get electricity back.

Maria is the first Category 4 storm to strike the island directly since 1932 and this level of devastation is something the island has not seen in generations. You can choose to donate to this fund, or to any of the other funds that have been set up.

Puerto Rican catchers Yadier Molina and Jorge Posada, and basketball player JJ Barea were the first professional athletes to start collecting funds to benefit those affected by Maria.

We will collect the funds and get advice from the Hispanic Federation as to what is the best way to deliver aid to Puerto Rico: https://hispanicfederation.org/donate

The campaign was launched just after 2 p.m. Eastern Thursday, and had already raised over $1,600 towards its $10,000 goal in its first hour. It’s cool to see Rivera finding ways to help Puerto Rico, where she was born and raised. Here’s wishing her the best of success in these efforts to help out and rebuild.

[GoFundMe]