Help us #RebuildRS Brazil
Help the reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul state, a territory larger than the UK, from devastation caused by unprecedented floods. Over 580,000 Brazilians evacuated, entire cities submerged, and lives at risk. Your donation will make a difference!
Rebuilding the future of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul #rebuildRS
The southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil has been severely impacted by heavy rains, resulting in massive flooding and landslides. The catastrophe is unprecedented. Over 2.3 million people were affected in over 450 cities, with a death toll in the hundreds. Tens of thousands of people were displaced and relied mostly on volunteers’ efforts on shelters to survive.
Beyond the immediate human cost, the severe flooding decimated the essentials for economic survival from humble local shops to sprawling factories, and vast stretches of farmland. Transportation has been thrown into chaos, with the airport in Porto Alegre expected to be out of action for months and major highways cut off by landslides, eroded roads, and fallen bridges.
Our government has proven to be unprepared, inefficient and insufficient to provide the required level of support. The Brazilian civil society (of which our #rebuildRS initiative is proudly part of) is playing a crucial role in rescuing isolated families, organizing shelters for the displaced people, donating and channelling donations to where they’re needed.
The recovery goes beyond rebuilding homes; it also involves restoring livelihoods. Many vulnerable communities rely on the reactivation of local businesses for employment and essential services. Our mission is to ensure that these families regain their stability and self-sufficiency, facilitating economic recovery. In other words, your donation will help, at this moment, restore hope to a family that has lost everything—home, furniture, and cars. Your contribution will assist thousands of people who are doubting whether they will ever be able to recover everything they worked their whole lives to achieve. This is the sole reason we are here—for these individuals who cannot look into your eyes and show the extent of their pain. We are their voice, and you can be their hope.
Our Approach:
- Targeted Support: We partner with local initiatives that address specific critical needs.
- Economic Revitalization: We support the reopening of local businesses to create jobs and reactivate the regional economy.
- Sustainable Development: We invest in projects that promote long-term community growth.
We invite you to join us on this journey of hope and recovery. Your donations and direct support will fund specific projects that have a lasting impact on the lives of the most vulnerable. Together, we can build a resilient and prosperous future for Rio Grande do Sul!
How to help?
How we will deploy the funds?
Donations will be deployed in Porto Alegre’s metropolitan area, in two heavily impacted cities: São Leopoldo and Novo Hamburgo (combined population of 500,000), where this fundraising team has local presence and knowledge of trusted, non-governmental initiatives and entities. See who they are:
Rotary Acontece is part of the Rotary club of Novo Hamburgo city and has a detailed plan to help 280 families from the Santo Afonso neighborhood. The plan is divided into four stages: 1- cleaning and first aid kit; 2- bedroom infrastructure kit (beds and mattresses); 3- bedroom essentials (sheets, duvets, pillows) and 4- household essentials (gas ovens, gas containers, kitchen sinks)
Driven by local volunteers since many years, Sopão is an initiative to provide food and recreational activities for kids from the São Leopoldo’s neighborhood of Vicentina. Their already basic infrastructure was severely hit by the floods. Local volunteers need investment to restore their charitable services
The “Luz da rua” Group, which means Light on the Street, has been involved in voluntary work for over 10 years, with charitable thrift store activities, distribution of lunch boxes for homeless people and events for those in need. With the slogan of “Doing good without looking at who”, during the floods in Rio Grande do Sul they intensified their work and are producing and distributing around 1000 lunch boxes per day
During the initial weeks following the catastrophe, half of all donations were directed to urgent care initiatives, supporting shelters with food and first-necessity material. Most of remaining and future donations will be directed to our three main beneficiaries.
Our team member Marcia will receive all donations to a dedicated bank account in the US. Donations will be managed and reported with full transparency, detailing supported initiatives or entities and invoices / proof of payments (see our transparency report).
Meet our team
A special thanks to our extended team: Eugênio Lourenço, UI / UX designer; Maicon Pedro, copyright; Lanna Mayara Ribeiro, local operations.
More information
- May 24th, The Guardian: ‘I’ve seen things no one should go through’: the overwhelming scale of loss in Brazil’s floods
- May 15th, ABC News: Flood-stricken Brazil continues to battle rising river levels, 149 confirmed dead
- May 10th, Sky News: Brazil floods: Horse rescued after becoming stranded on roof top
- May 8th, France24: Brazil authorities scramble to get aid to flooded south amid forecasts of more rain
- May 8th, FOX Weather: Satelitte imagery shows extensive flooding in Brazil as death tool reaches 100
- May 3rd, BBC News: Brazil floods: Dam collapses and death toll rises in Rio Grande do Sul
- May 3rd, The Guardian: Brazil: 37 killed and dozens missing in worst floods in 80 years