Ike arrives in Cuba

Hurricane Ike devastated parts of Cuba and money is needed now to help people as they struggle to survive. Because of our country’s idiotic stance toward the aging and ailing Fidel Castro, it’s hard to get relief to those who need it.

The State Department allows only a very few organizations to assist, and one is the Friendship Association. What their web site lacks in professional glitz, its members make up in heart. In normal times, they provide dental care and hygiene, prenatal care and education, bicycles, wheelchairs, eye care, gardening assistance, sewing supplies, cultural projects, and more. They take no sides in the ongoing conflict between our two governments. And every dollar given actually goes to help.

St. Augustine resident Jo McIntire started the Friendship Association with his wife, Soledad, and now there are hundreds of members, including some in Colorado, Philadelphia and Chicago. It is one of the few groups in the United States to have such a long-standing license to travel to Cuba despite the embargo between the two countries…

McIntire said the group plans to fill a large container with items to send to Baracoa, a province of Guantanamo, to give aid in the wake of Ike…

“People can give checks to the Association, and we will buy items to put in the container,” he said. “We’ve sent more than 20 containers over the years. … We take trips every year to follow up on (the items we send).

“We monitor it to make sure it’s distributed to where it’s supposed to be.”

Here’s a link to a PayPal donation account and more pix. I hope you can help.