4 | DOCTOR GATOR
'A VERY SMALL
PLACE WITH A
VERY BIG HEART'
UF medical student organizes
Puerto Rico relief initiative,
hosts donation drive
By TYLER FRANCISCHINE
Surrounded by balloons, streamers
and cupcakes decorated to resemble
the Puerto Rican flag, Lymaries Velez
begins to cry.
The second-year medical student is
explaining why she started the Puerto
Rico Relief Initiative, a coalition of UF
medical students, faculty members
and undergraduate students aimed
at providing the Puerto Rican people
with the supplies and funds they
need to rebuild their island in the
face of Hurricane Maria’s widespread
devastation. Velez’s own family was
forced to relocate to the mainland U.S.
after the storm destroyed their home.