BRANDON, Fla. — A local nonprofit is hard at work helping those in the Sunshine State following the Surfside condo collapse, and helping those in other countries still picking up the pieces after last year’s hurricane season.
Boricuas de Corazon, Inc., Is a nonprofit based in Brandon, and next week, they’re headed on their third trip to Honduras.
“We have almost 200 kids right now that they are suffering a lot, their parents are not there, and we want to make sure that we continue blessing them,” said Linda Perez, President of Boricuas De Corazon.
Two major hurricanes hit the country within weeks of each other last November, and BDC, Inc., Is making sure the displaced children have shelter, supplies, and food.
“They’re asking for milk for the babies, they’re asking for diapers, wipes, we are being able to do with clothes, some toys for the kids, a lot of backpacks with all the equipment that are coming with school supplies, and a lot of other stuff,” said Perez.
This will be the third 40-foot shipping container that they’ve sent to Honduras just since last November. This shipment alone consists of more than 40,000 pounds of supplies.
“This has to be sent in from the United State because it’s super high cost in their country,” said Perez.
They’ve already sent more than 200 mattresses, and they’re working to send freezers and microwaves, but there are still some things they need.
“We still need mattresses in the size XL, like twin size are good. We are sending a lot of milk for the kids, in Similac, Endolac, any milk that they have that is not expired,” said Perez.
This will be their 10th mission in just their 4th year of operation.
“We’ve been in Puerto Rico twice, we have been in the Bahamas, we’ve been in Honduras, we’ve been in Lake Charles, Louisiana, we’ve been in Pensacola.”
And they just got back from Surfside where they took eight emotional support dogs to help families who have lost loved ones.
“As soon as you put that dog next to them, they’re hugging for them, they’re caring for them, they do a lot with the dog. They all get transformed,” said Perez.
On that mission they helped 93 families and 38 first responders. And after only being home for a couple weeks, they’re headed off to Honduras next Thursday.
“We are planning to go no later than July the 15th,” said Perez.
If you’d like to donate money or supplies to their mission, you can do so by clicking here.
You can also contact the nonprofit by calling 954-496-1463.
