Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico as a Category 5 storm on September 20, 2017. More than four months after the storm, nearly half a million people were still without power.

Amira resides in Bayamón, a city located in the northern coast of Puerto Rico just south of San Juan. She experienced Hurricane Maria firsthand. She has dedicated herself to environmental justice, serving as a Sierra Club Student Coalition Youth Leader and as a volunteer with the Caribbean Youth Environmental Network.

Just a week after Hurricane Maria, Amira gathered a group of volunteers to hand out fruit trees and seeds to low-income families impacted in the rural Barranquitas region. With an estimated 80% of crops lost in the storm, Amira hopes planting fruit trees now will assist in rebuilding food security in the most impacted communities.

Amira lives with her grandmother and both are grateful to have both power and running water.