Ricky Martin steps up Puerto Rico relief efforts

OHMYGOSSIP — Ricky Martin wants to give over 100 Puerto Rican families new homes by Christmas.
The 46-year-old singer has been working hard to raise money for those displaced by a hurricane in September 2017 – which killed an estimated 2,975 people and caused more than $100 billion in damage to property and the power grid – and he’s got a new goal in place for the coming months.
In a surprise appearance on the ‘Ellen DeGeneres Show’, he said: “For an entire year many, many Puerto Rico residents had no power, no electricity…
“Many families lost absolutely everything and my goal is, before Christmas, I want to hand out 100 to 110 keys to houses that we’ve built and rebuilt.
The generous presenter instantly donated $20,000 to his foundation to help him reach his target.
The ‘Shake Your Bon-Bon’ hitmaker has also enlisted his twin sons, 10-year-old Matteo and Valentino, into helping with his fundraising efforts and they have designed a t-shirt to raise money for relief.
He said: “The other day I was at home and my kids were asking ‘Dad, how can we help kids from Puerto Rico?’ ‘Why don’t you draw the Puerto Rican flag and let’s do this.’
“That later on became a shirt and you can get this shirt to help build and rebuild houses.”
And Ricky called for people to visit the island in a bid to bring more money in through tourism, Puerto Rico’s main source of income.
He said: “We live off of tourism, if you want to help us, come and visit the island! We have the most amazing beaches, great restaurants, great hotels – but still we need help.”
Elsewhere on the show, the ‘Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ actor shared his excitement at marrying Jwan Yosef earlier this year.
He said: “It feels amazing, it feels like its been a decade but this is a good thing. Like we’ve been through so much together, it’s been beautiful.”

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