The 46-year-old entertainer and his charity, the Ricky Martin Foundation, shared photos and videos from his visit to the town of Loiza on social media. His organization built and rebuilt homes in the area for those that lost everything during the fierce storms.

In one post on Instagram, Martin wrote in Spanish that it was “without a doubt, a very emotional day.” In the accompanying photographs, he is seen smiling and hugging the happy recipients of the homes who are appreciative people of all ages.

The same photos were also posted on his foundation’s Instagram page. They thanked some of the other organizations that joined them in rebuilding the residences, and also explained that “a home symbolizes a new beginning, security, and protection for families vulnerable to violence and human trafficking.”

A world without human trafficking is the main goal of the Ricky Martin Foundation, which accepts cash donations and volunteers, but the nonprofit began reconstruction efforts in Puerto Rico this past March and hope to complete work on a total of 225 homes by next fall, according to Billboard.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Fotos del día del ayer entregando llaves de las casas que han sido construidas y reconstruidas en #Loíza para las víctimas del huracán María. Sin duda alguna, un día muy emotivo. Les informo que gracias al éxito de la iniciativa #ALLin4PR podremos subir la meta y reconstruiremos 225 hogares más.

A post shared by Ricky (@ricky_martin) on Dec 2, 2018 at 9:05am PST

The “Livin’ la Vida Loca” singer raised extra funds to help the people of Puerto Rico by selling special “AllIn4PR” shirts. The black tops, which were on sale for a limited time only, came in long and short sleeve varieties and had a drawing of the PR flag on its front. Billboard reported that Martin’s twin sons, 10-year-old Matteo and Valentino, designed them.

The shirts and the cause have been promoted on social media by many of Martin’s celebrity friends, including his The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story costar Darren Criss, Mary Poppins Returns star and fellow Puerto Rican Lin-Manuel Miranda, former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, country singer Carrie Underwood, and CNN’s Don Lemon.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

#Repost @rm_foundation ・・・ ¡Continuamos entregando hogares y brindando esperanza a las familias loiceñas! #RMF #AllIn4PR We continue delivering homes and giving hope to families in Loíza! #RMF #AllIn4PR

A post shared by Ricky (@ricky_martin) on Dec 2, 2018 at 3:13pm PST

This article originally appeared on Inquistir.

The post Ricky Martin Hands Over Keys To Three Homes In Puerto Rico He Helped Rebuild After Hurricanes appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.

It was trip long in the making, powered by dozens of brilliant, compassionate animal lovers, who asked for nothing in return except the chance to change an animal’s life. 

Southwest Airlines has a history of helping those in need, especially after natural disasters. So when Washington D.C.-based Lucky Dog Animal Rescue approached the company about flying out homeless pets stranded in Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Southwest responded immediately.

“We had a goal to do something for each of the hurricanes. The situation in San Juan was a little different because our employees and their families were affected, and with the electricity being out, we couldn’t focus on the animals right away,” Lisa Tiller, Southwest’s Senior Communications Manager told PEOPLE.

But just because they couldn’t fly pets out, didn’t mean Southwest wasn’t bringing help in. The airline routinely shipped planes loaded with supplies to the island, much of which is still without running water and electricity. Many of the runs included pet essentials to help rescuers in Puerto Rico look after animals.

In January, three months after the hurricane hit, things were finally in a place where Lucky Dog Animal Rescue and Southwest could put their plan into action.

For the mutt-filled mission, Southwest took one of its planes out of service and staffed it with some of its finest employees, all of whom chose to donate their time to this effort.

The plane’s cargo hold and overhead bins were filled with supplies Puerto Rico’s humans and animals needed before taking off from Baltimore-Washington International airport at 5 a.m. on Saturday.

“The morning started off with Lucky Dog getting Starbucks for everyone,” Lucky Dog Animal Rescue’s founder and Executive Director Mirah Horowitz said of the day, which began at 3:45 a.m. “The pilots brought doughnuts. My parents brought doughnuts. We had a lot of doughnuts on that flight, a lot of sugar.”

After three hours and 45 minutes in the air, the volunteers landed in San Juan and began unloading the 14,400 lbs. of much-needed supplies they brought with them.

“Everyone was just so nice and helpful. The minute we landed, Lucky Dog volunteers were unloading, Southwest volunteers were unloading, the cargo staff on the ground was unloading,” Horowitz recalled. “Everyone jumped in to help. It was truly amazing how wonderful everyone meshed for two groups that had never met before.

Next it was time to handle the precious cargo. Sixteen cats and 46 dogs looking for forever homes were carefully loaded into carriers off the tarmac and prepared for their flight to a new life.

“Everyone was jubilant. I was shocked! For as long of a day as it was, and as early as it started, people were just in the best moods the whole time,” Horowitz said.

The furry passengers were a mix of pets from different circumstances. Some were living in foster homes before the storm hit, others were abandoned by their previous owners once Hurricane Maria touched down. But it was the rescuers of PR Animals who were caring for these pets before Lucky Dog Animal Rescue and Southwest arrived. And it was these rescuers who were there on the ground to greet the volunteers and say their goodbyes.

“It was very emotional; the rescuers putting their dogs in the crates and saying goodbye to them, because these are animals they have been caring for through very difficult and traumatic times — whether they were caring for them before Maria and weathered the storm with these people, which were a few of the dogs, or whether they were rescued in the immediate aftermath,” Horowitz added.

“It wasn’t about taking the pets off the island, it was about giving hope and physical help to people and reminding them that we haven’t forgotten them,” Horowitz said of the trip’s mission.

Once the pets were packed up, they were loaded on to the plane with their carriers securely strapped into the seats.

You might think a plane packed with 62 pets in the cabin would be a bit of a circus, but there were only a few howls upon landing.

“Amazingly during the flight, the hum and vibration kind of put them all to sleep,” Horowitz said.

With carriers of kittens and puppies aboard, not everyone stayed in their crate during the trip.

Horowitz admitted that the volunteers and flight attendants couldn’t resist getting some quality puppy-holding and kitten-cuddling time in during the trip back.

Back on the mainland, the dogs and cats were loaded into transport vans and driven to Dogma Dog Bakery in Virginia, where a crowd was waiting to welcome the animals, including several new pet parents.

Nine dogs and two cats were adopted right off the transport vans by animal lovers who had falling in love with the pets’ pictures online.

An adoption event the following day found homes for 10 more of the Puerto Rican natives. By the end of the weekend, 21 of the 62 pets were with their forever families. The rest spent some time in foster homes before being moved to local rescues, including Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, where they will surely find their own pet parents soon.

It was a trip that made sense to Southwest, whose logo is a large heart — even if it meant giving up time and money.

“We’ve been always an airline that has lead with heart,” Tiller said of her company. “It’s hard to find a spare aircraft with more than 3,500 flights a day. To be able to get our top leadership to donate time and plane fuel to save animals is touching. It’s when our employees shine the most are, when people donating time. Everyone is almost in tears because they are so touched to be a part of this.

And for Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, this trip was another small but important step to finding loving homes for all the needy animals of the world.

The non-profit plans to continue helping the pets of Puerto Rico and is working to send more animals to the mainland through the pressurized cargo holds of United Airlines planes, because caring for animals is a way to help everyone.

“When we lose sight of how we treat animals, we tend to lose sight of our humanity,” Horowitz said of what the trip meant to her. “We can’t forget the pets.”

This article originally appeared in People.

The post Southwest Flys Plane to Puerto Rico to Save Pets and Donate Supplies appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.

The charity event will be an unofficial PGA Tour tournament (sort of like the Hero World Challenge in December) and will “bring together PGA Tour players, athletes, celebrities and sponsors benefitting island charities.”

It will be played at TPC Dorado Beach.

“The Puerto Rico Open has been part of the PGA Tour for the last 10 years and our commitment to golf on the island has never been stronger,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said. “Our hope is that this special event in 2018 will benefit Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts to the fullest extent, while reminding the world that Puerto Rico is a premier golf and travel destination.”

The island was pummeled by winds up to 155 MPH and has been in deep recovery mode since the hurricanes swept through. It will be years, if not decades, before everything returns to how it once was, of course, but that doesn’t mean professional golf on the island is lost forever.

In fact, it might be just the opposite.

“There’s no doubt once this is said and done, we’re going to have an incredible, vibrant island,” Puerto Rico Open tournament chairman Sidney Wolf told Golfweek recently.

This article originally appeared on CBS Sports.

The post PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Event to Benefit Charity in 2018 appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.

Alex Ibarra is a big-time soccer fanatic and has an impressive collection of 54 different jerseys. Out of all of them, there is one that he holds dearest to his heart, an autographed Christian Pulisic jersey from the American Outlaws Oakland team.

Ibarra had got his hands on the autographed jersey during the March World Cup in San Jose, CA. Following Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and then Puerto Rico’s he decided it was a brilliant idea to raffle off the jersey for money to benefit hurricane relief efforts.

Here’s a raffle update from the li’l guy who started it all, our Jr. Capo, Alex! & you can still buy tickets here:https://t.co/TfvQzejihJ pic.twitter.com/8wGK2vmLZV

— AO Oakland (@AOOakland) October 4, 2017

“I’m raffling it off because I’m trying to raise money for the Puerto Ricans that don’t have food and water,” Alex said. “Puerto Rico’s really important to me because they’re one of our territories.”

Eventually, word got around to Christian Pulisic himself.

Pulisic took it into his own hands to respond to Ibarra via video. In his video, he said he would send him a new autographed jersey and make a donation himself to follow in his philanthropic footsteps.

A young fan donated his @cpulisic_10 jersey to benefit #PuertoRicoRelief. Word got back to the star.

Learn more: https://t.co/U6SiQDowfM pic.twitter.com/bal2RDfBjj

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) October 7, 2017

At AO Oakland’s viewing party for a match against Panama, Ibarra was star struck and speechless when he finally saw the video of his forever idol thanking him for his selflessness and generosity.

Ibarra raffle raised roughly around $3,300 for the Hispanic Federation UNIDOS Disaster Relief Fund.

7-year-old Alex watched @cpulisic_10‘s message at the @AOOakland party.

His reaction . pic.twitter.com/9mJxKac3Jb

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) October 7, 2017

Quakes superfan Alex Ibarra auctioning his signed @cpulisic_10 jersey at @AOOakland rally tonight for #PuertoRico: https://t.co/3H1G58VkgM pic.twitter.com/BwUOHWHGl6

— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) October 6, 2017

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The post 7-Year-Old Boy Donates Prized Jersey for Puerto Rico Relief and Soccer Hero Responds appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.

SEE: Pitch an Idea to “Shark Tank” Star Mark Cuban with Television Academy Foundation’s Emmy Season Auction

As Puerto Rico continues to struggle to recover from Hurricane Maria, many are doing what they can to help including The White House announced Thursday it had temporarily waived the 97-year old “Jones Act”, lifting restrictions on ships able to provide much-needed aid to the island.

However, another interesting story has emerged. Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea, a native of Puerto Rico desperately needed a way to rescue his mother and grandmother from the U.S. territory.

A post shared by Viviana Ortiz Pastrana (@vivianaortizpr) on Sep 25, 2017 at 6:26pm PDT

Mark Cuban loaned the team plane to J.J. Barea to fly supplies to Puerto Rico. Barea will return tonight with his mother and grandmother.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) September 26, 2017

As reported on by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Mark Cuban loaned out the Dallas Mavericks team plane to Barea to deliver supplies and pick up his mother and grandmother all in one swoop! According to Monique Moss, all it took was just one phone call!

One call from #DallasMavs player #PuertoRico native JJ Barea & Mark Cuban ‘s team plane was en route to San Juan stocked w/palettes of water & dozens of badly needed generators first light today. #CubanForPresident #HowCanIHelp
Read the details:http://wapo.st/2y7J8kz

(Monique Moss, Facebook)

The news comes two days after Barea was finally able to reach his family. Puerto Rico largely remains without power, water, and communication. Rescue and rebuilding efforts are still underway.

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Written by: Alex Ribble

The post Mark Cuban Lends His Dallas Mavericks Plane To Puerto Rico Native J.J. Barea For Hurricane Relief appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.