LATIN TIMES MAGAZINE - 1st QTR 2018 1st Quarter 2018 | Page 13

Heros for Puerto Rico
Ret. Colonel Evelio Otero
“We shipped directly to the recipients, the
people, and tried to avoid the State
Government in Puerto Rico and prevent the
log jam of containers in San Juan. We did
that very successfully and became one of the
largest relief organizations in the country.”
by: Jolie Gonzalez-Padilla
Jolie Gonzalez-Padilla: Take us back to
the days leading up to September 28th,
2017; as Hurricane Maria made its way
toward the Island of Puerto Rico. - how
did you feel, and what went through your
mind during those hours?
Ret Colonel Evelio Otero: Well, we have
been tracking Maria as we evacuated to
North Carolina readying for Hurricane
Irma. Maria was not changing its path
and we began making phone calls to fam-
ily and friends in Puerto Rico to make
sure they were taking the necessary steps.
I had a deep bad sense in my stomach
that this time it would be heartbreaking.
When we got back to Tampa I was glued
to the weather report and feeling helpless
that such a monster hurricane was about
to descend in Puerto Rico at 154 MPH
Category 5. Understanding that in the
mountains and around the island outside
on San Juan historical devastation was
very likely.
Jolie Gonzalez-Padilla: How big a role
did your military background play in put-
ting together the plan of action for Puerto
Rico relief – and how fast were you able to
implement it?
Ret Colonel Evelio Otero: Well, it was
important to get in touch with like mind-
ed individuals who understood what dis-
cipline and organization meant to what
could be a large relief operation. All those
contacted supported and dozens of ci-
vilians understood the importance of a
plan, priorities, objectives, etc. I the be-
ginning it was precise. The civilians who
took on leadership roles in the organiza-
tion proved to be tremendous assets and
at times were key in the decision-making
process. It became clear to me that our or-
ganization, Course of Action Foundation,
a 501 (c) 3, was the best venue to track all
donations for Puerto Rico, whether cash
donations, or supplies. This gave sever-
al entities a sense of relief and we were
joined in the effort.
Jolie Gonzalez-Padilla: What was the
first thing you did?
Ret Colonel Evelio Otero: First, I visited the
warehouse to view a possible staging point.
Brenda Irizarry, wife of Richard Trela, own-
er of Homeland Intelligence Technologies,
invited me to see what she was working on.
Unbelievable energy and the place was per-
fect, 25,000 sq. feet. Then we had to assess
ways to send what we collected. We could
not receive supplies that we were not pre-
pared to send. We evaluated if financial do-
nations would be necessary as we could not
count on solely free planes, or ships. Then
we contacted mayors in Puerto Rico, as well
as churches. We identified a team that would
go to Puerto Rico to ensure delivery of goods
and moved forward. We had to remember
that this is 100% voluntary organization and
we had to take into account that factor and
not burn out the wonderful hundreds of vol-
unteers we received.
floor. Antonio and Linda Davila, who ran
the volunteer and packing process, made
this effort flourish. Key folks who never
hesitated to work 14 and 15-hour days such
as MSG Walter Gonzalez, Aaron Tromma-
ter, and Brenda’s father, Edwin, who worked
harder than anybody, and Marisol Garcia.
I got to mention TSgt Kelvin Valle, a logis-
tics expert, who worked in the planning
of the logistics and travelled several times
to Puerto Rico to directly supervised the
process of distribution and many times
fix kinks in the process. Finally, Mariann
Persad who was the key person in orches-
trating the shipping process and in essence
designed the manifest process and coordi-
nation with the shipping companies. Many
more contributed far and above what any-
one expected. Hundreds showed up on the
weekends to sweat and pack and ship. I have
to be deeply grateful to the biggest guard-
ian of our effort, Rep Janet Cruz, without
wanting anything in return, quiet and kind,
showed up and offered her hands to support
the volunteers as well as contacts to assist in
our effort. Thanks to her the New York Yan-
kees, Tampa Bay Lighting, Tampa Bay Rays,
Amscot, and others made the shipping
possible of 500,000 pounds of supplies, of
the 3 million pounds of inventory we had.
Senator Dana Young came to the warehouse
and helped us obtain additional space at the
airport. Commissioner Stacy White was a
welcomed support as well. Finally, Mr. Tom
Pepin who selflessly put our disposable his
much-needed trucks. Mr Joe Capitano, and
the Ybor Italian leadership were instrumen-
tal. As of course Mr Jose Fourquet from
Merrill Lynch who leased private planes
and flew supplies to Ponce. So, we had ma-
jor supporters from the Minnesota Twins
organization to New York Yankees to the
Carlos carrasco Foundation they made our
effort successful.
Jolie Gonzalez-Padilla: Tell us about how
you went about building your team; I know
you had a big team of people that jumped
in immediately to help; who would you say
played a major part in the relief efforts.
Ret Colonel Evelio Otero: We put togeth-
er a basic skeleton crew then folks joined
in as needs arose and they proved valuable
to the organization. Key players were Luis
Raul Laracuente who established the first
contact with the Puerto Rico government
leadership in Orlando. Of course, Liza Ri-
vera-Ruse, who was totally responsible for
a very successful website, Facebook page,
and road signs around Tampa. A consum-
mate professional she was the face of the
effort along with Brenda and Arlene Marie
Oliva. Arlene Marie is the President of All
American Music entertainment and they
were key in the coordination, phone calls,
negotiations and orchestrating the Air Force
donating airplanes as well as private entities
donating dozens of containers. All Ameri-
can was directly responsible in obtaining 5 Read entire interview online:
additional warehouses to support the mon-
strous effort we found ourselves in. Antonio www.LatinTimesMedia.com
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