MLB, the Yankees, and the state of New York are sending a supply plane to Puerto Rico

It’s been weeks since Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico, devastating everything in its path. But based on recent reports, things are only getting worse on the island. Help is still very much needed.

Teams and players around baseball have been raising money and gathering supplies to send to Puerto Rico and are shipping them down there with help from the league and owners.

The latest team to step up and help is the New York Yankees, in tangent with the Hispanic Foundation and New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s Empire State Relief and Recovery Effort. According to a press release from MLB, the league is chartering a plane to fly from New York to Puerto Rico, and former Yankee Bernie Williams, who hails from the island, will be on hand to assist in the loading of the plane.

Additional details about the efforts are below.

Following the lead of the relief & recovery efforts by all MLB Clubs in response to recent natural disasters, Major League Baseball has chartered a FedEx cargo plane filled with much-needed supplies for families affected by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Yankees Legend and Puerto Rico native Bernie Williams will be on hand alongside MLB executives as the plane is loaded. The New York Yankees and the Hispanic Federation are supporting the initiative in conjunction with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Empire State Relief and Recovery Effort, which is providing supplies donated by New Yorkers across the state, including water, diapers and baby food. The plane is scheduled to depart JFK International Airport in New York City at approximately 9:50 a.m. EDT and will arrive at Rafael Hernandez Airport (BQN) in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico later that day. This effort is one of several examples of Baseball assisting victims in Puerto Rico, especially MLB Clubs – including the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays – who have chartered planes to Puerto Rico to deliver supplies and assistance to individuals most in need.

The plane is set to leave the US on Thursday morning on the way to Puerto Rico, and hopefully the supplies get to people who need them as fast as possible. The supplies specifically set to be on this plane, such as diapers and baby food, are those that people might not have on hand to donate in clothing drives or at other fundraisers. So it’s great thinking by this contingent to make sure they are included.

It will be a long time before Puerto Rico is back on its feet, but any help is something, and teams all around baseball are making a concerted effort to do what they can in this awful situation.