BOISE, Idaho — Wepa Café in Boise is a family-owned Puerto Rican restaurant, a home away from home for this family.
"I opened up a Puerto Rican restaurant and bring the Puerto Rican cultural and taste to the Treasure Valley," said Art Robinson, Wepa Café’s owner.
Robinson says this restaurant means more than just a taste of home. The restaurant donates a portion of its proceeds to nonprofits working directly with those affected by natural disasters.
"On top of that, I wanted to tie in a social-consciousness message, and it was always about trying to those who are affected by Hurricane Maria,” Robinson said.
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017. Five years later, many of those on the island haven’t fully recovered. Now, with Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Ricans are reeling from another devastating storm.
National Weather Service San Juan’s Meteorologist Ernesto Morales says, "The entire island saw the effects of Fiona."
When Hurricane Fiona churned across the Caribbean, it brought historic flooding and power outages.
"It impacted the other side of Puerto Rico, especially along the southern coast. The eye wall was moving across the southern side. So, they felt the stronger winds in that region,” Morales said.
Fiona was classified as a category 1 storm and Maria was classified as a category 5 storm, but Morales said Fiona has caused worse damage.
“Even if there are two different monsters, the word 'catastrophic' was used in both of them. Maria was mostly because of the strong winds, and Fiona was because of all the rain,” Morales said. "It's kind of hard to rise again, but I assure you that us Puerto Ricans are going to rise again and move forward on the recovery efforts.”
Many businesses and organizations all over the country are helping. Wepa Café has partnered with ProTechos, a non-profit in Puerto Rico.
"They focus on the undeserved, the elderly, the young, low income, helping them build roofs,” Robinson said.
This Saturday, Oct. 1, Wepa Café is hosting a fundraiser with food, a dance, and raffles as they prepare to give their annual donation to ProTechos.
"This was setup long before Fiona hit, but now it has an even greater meaning, so we can get them those funds as soon as possible,” Robinson said.
Wepa Café is located on East 35th Street in Garden City between Chinden Boulevard and the Boise River Greenbelt.
VIDEO: Reportaje en español de Brenda Rodríguez :
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: