FITCHBURG — In the wake of Hurricane Maria, Luis Martinez, owner of Martinez Road Construction, would turn on the television after work and watch what was happening in Puerto Rico, the island where he and his brothers spent their early years.
“Honestly, it killed my heart watching all those people going through what they’re going through,” he said.
He decided to take action.
Through his Fitchburg company, he purchased 50 generators for people without power.
Purchasing the generators was costly — he estimates about $13,000 — but getting them to the people in Puerto Rico, particularly those with physical disabilities, proved to be the true challenge, as the U.S. territory continues to struggle from damage caused by the Oct. 3 hurricane.
“The tourist part is doing all right,” said Pedro Martinez, who joined his brothers Luis and Ruzbin during a December trip to the island. “But if you go into the middle of the island it’s devastating.”
Luis Martinez said he connected with Eric Correa Rivera, a member of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives who put him in touch with people in need of generators and agents to escort him and his brothers.
He said the escort was needed as they struggled to get all of the generators through security and avoid being pulled over.
“Generators in Puerto Rico are like gold,” Martinez said.
While they were unable to connect with anyone in Villalba — the city where the brothers lived until they moved to Massachusetts in 1989 — they delivered the generators to families in Carolina, Trujillo Alto, Rio Grande and Canovanas.
Some recipients required breathing tubes. Others, like two young girls they met, had a skin condition that was worsened by the heat.
After two months without power, the delivery was welcomed, Pedro and Luis Martinez said.
“You go into those houses with generators and they broke down in tears,” Luis Martinez said.
He said the two-week trip was a chance to give back. Martinez may return to Puerto Rico in a professional capacity to do road repair, but said this most recent trip was challenging.
“I came (back) here and told my children, you don’t know how lucky you guys are,” he said.
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