SAN JUAN, PR – Ten days ago, I visited a neighborhood in San Juan called Santurce. Amid the damaged and mostly darkened public housing complexes, we met dozens of community members at the Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico. The young and old came for tutoring, leadership training, recreation and hot meals. The Club, one of 20 on the island, was well lit, clean and highly organized.
It was both inspirational and hopeful.
With a local crew, I co-produced this news segment on the Club which aired on the Weather Channel last Wednesday. It will run as part of the network’s post hurricane special that will air this Sunday (12.3) at 10:00 pm. (The video published on this page is a longer version of our reporting, edited by the Beet.TV team.)
A vast majority of the community visiting the Club live below the poverty level. While many Puerto Ricans are leaving the island for the States, most of these residents of San Juan have no option but to make the best of their lives on the island.
I sat down with several young people and their parents to talk about their experience. My takeaway: Like other communities who have survived trauma, this one is determined to rebound and succeed.
This production was underwritten by the Weather Channel. It is part of the Stand with Puerto Rico industry initiative organized by Beet.TV with founding partners Omnicom Media Group, AT&T and Teads. The focus of the group is is to drive donations and support for the Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico among the the media industry.
This Holiday Season, Please Donate
To make a donation to the Boys & Girls Club, please visit this page.
The Media Industry Steps Up at the Beet Retreat
Before leaving for San Juan, I produced our three-day Beet.TV executive retreat in Miami. We raised nearly $10,000 for the Boys and Girls Club via a silent auction. Huge thanks to those who gave items and made the generous donations: A+E Networks, AT&T AdWorks, Clinch, comScore, DISH Media Sales/Sling TV, Disney/ABC, Eyeview, FOX, GroupM w/ Rob Norman and Phil Cowdell, Innovid, Chef Jose Andrea & the SLS Brickell, LiveRamp, NBCUniversal, OATH, One2One Media, Target, TiVo, Turner, and Videology. Gracias!
Join Stand With Puerto Rico Meeting on December 15
We are planning an industry meeting of our group on Friday, December 15 in New York at AT&T offices in Rockefeller Center. To get more information on this contact me andy(at)beet.tv
Hope you have a joyous holiday season and a super 2018.
