You may know Bethenny Frankel from the Real Housewives of New York, or her former talk show, Bethenny. The reality star is typically seen dawning expensive cocktail dresses and living it up in her SoHo pad.
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But this week, the Skinnygirl mogul is doing some REAL good for some REAL people.
On September 20, Hurricane Maria swept through the Caribbean, leaving a path of destruction in its wake, and wiping out the entire island of Puerto Rico.
The U.S. territory is home to more than 3.4 million people who have been left stranded for the past two weeks, with no electricity, extremely limited access to food and water, and little hope.
In wake of the devastation, Bethenny charted FOUR private planes, stocked them full of food, medical supplies and EMTs, then set off to Puerto Rico to take restoration into her own hands.
“We got a 4th plane headed to PR and working on a 5th!” Bethenny posted with a video on Instagram. “I’m bringing $25k in Costco gift cards, $25k in cash gift cards and approximately 15k lbs of food, water and medical supplies. With the planes[‘] return we will be able to transport PR citizens stateside to get medical attention.”
The outreach was funded in part by donations to Bethenny’s charity, B Strong, which comes alongside women and their families in crisis. The rest was her own personal money.
Sporting a shirt that reads, #ThisIsACrisis, Bethenny took to the streets to meet people wherever they were at. Witnessing firsthand the devastation, she called it a “war zone.”
Reports in the media regarding the aftermath in Puerto Rico have been minimal. There have been brief clips of President Trump meeting with leaders, and tossing out rolls of paper towels like T-shirts at a marketing meeting, but very little actually showing the ruins.
The destruction has been hidden.
Bethenny plastered her social media with various photos and video updates that showed the dire situation that our neighbors are in.