On October 21, Dewey’s 24 readathon takes place! I participated last April, although I read nowhere near 24 hours. I plan on reading for at least half the day – if i can hit around 18 hours, I’d be really happy! This will finally get me to knock a few books off my never-ending TBR shelf, or worse, my “Currently Reading” shelf. (I know I’ve been TERRIBLE at updating my Reading Series books, like Dogland and Animals Matter. I promise my readers – and the authors – that I will get my blogging life in order ASAP. It’s just been hard, as I’ve been working 50+ hour weeks consistently since May…)

Many participants in the readathon raise money for a literacy-related charity. I decided to do something a little different: I set up a charity GoFundMe to help the victims of Puerto Rico. Maybe your eyebrows raised at that and you’re asking yourself, “GoFundMe? Really?”

Here’s the deal: It’s a charity fundraising page, so at no point does the money I raise go to me. In fact, GoFundMe doesn’t even have my bank account associated with my page. The money will automatically go to the charity of my choice – I picked the Hispanic Federation, a legitimate charity that’s doing awesome work to help the victims of Hurricane Maria. You may have noticed many celebrities endorsing this charity in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Quite frankly, I’m ashamed of our President and the administration for not giving a damn about Puerto Ricans. I can’t wrap my head around why anyone would support this bigoted and backwards Presidency! His handling – or lackthereof? – of Hurricane Maria has put a bright spotlight on just how little regard he has for the people of Puerto Rico. I’m not surprised – Trump has shown himself to be racist and prejudiced since before he even ran for President – but I AM angry.

In fact, everyone should be. Here’s a sampling of recent articles to show how devastating the situation is:

• Puerto Rico’s hurricane death toll rises to 45
• Puerto Rico: US officials privately acknowledge serious food shortage
• FEMA Officials Say It’s Not Their Job to Distribute Food and Water to Hurricane Victims in Puerto Rico: Report
• Three weeks since Hurricane Maria, much of Puerto Rico still dark, thirsty and frustrated
• Second-class citizenship for Puerto Ricans

I will be personally donating as well. I will match donations up to $250 dollars. If you can give anything, please do so. During the readathon, I will be posting updates about what I’m reading and other thoughts, both on this site and on my Twitter pages (my Paw Report and my personal twitter).

Stay tuned for more about the readathon and what I plan on reading!

Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo/For The Washington Post.