SOS RIO GRANDE - Brazil - Rio Grande do Sul Floods

Financial transparency: www.luizagirardello.com/sosriogrande

*If you would like me to focus your donations on a specific group, cause, or person on the ground in RS please contact me through the website or email [email redacted]

[Donations through Venmo and Zelle preferred since GoFundMe charges fees and every cent counts, but everything is welcome!]

Brasileiros que possuam Pix, obrigada pelo interesse! Por favor doe diretamente a uma pessoa ou organização no RS. As listadas nas doações já feitas são altamente indicadas. Qualquer dúvida, entre emcontato.

Hi, my name is Luiza Girardello and I am a musician from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. I graduated Berklee College of Music and live and work in Boston.

I am paying out of pocket for real-time donations as the money comes in, and this GoFundMe will help me be reimbursed once we reach our goal.

The largest environmental catastrophe ever recorded in the south of Brazil (and possibly the entire country) is currently ongoing in my home state. The current recorded number of deaths is at 147, but it is very likely to be underreported. The number of people affected has currently surpassed 2.1 million.

In many ways the population is being left to fend for itself, since the state is severely underprepared to shelter the over 207.000 people who have had to flee their homes, or to rescue a huge part of the population that has been left stranded in flooded areas or is currently missing. We need this to be done NOW, and for that, we need funds to get to people directly.

This fundraiser will gather funds from international donors and redistribute them to smaller efforts by civilians and the general population. I will be providing a detailed list of how the funds are used as they are allocated. Full list and proof of payments will be available on this page.

The funds will help in buying food, clean water, medicine, shelter, clothes, gas for civilian boats who are performing rescue, among other needs as they come up. My personal network is more closely linked to Porto Alegre and Canoas. There are several ways to donate directly to the state and to larger organizations, but this fundraiser will focus on grassroots efforts as they come up.

Global warming doesn’t care about borders, and the climate emergency concerns all of us. This is not an isolated incident. Please help by sharing, donating, and getting involved in your local community as well. Thank you for your help.

Satellite image of the 388 cities and towns affected:

Civilian rescue efforts in a flooded city street in Canoas, Rio Grande Do Sul:

photo: Duda Fortes