The American Federation of Teachers is joining with other concerned citizens to bring water to the people of Puerto Rico, a vital mission that seems to have been forgotten by the Trump administration.
Randi Weingarten sent out the following information:
“Responding to the water crisis unfolding in Puerto Rico, AFT, Operation Blessing, AFSCME, and the Hispanic Foundation launched Operation Agua today to crowdsource contributions and provide a reliable source of safe drinking water to families across Puerto Rico.
“More than a month after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, most Puerto Ricans still have no reliable source of safe drinking water. When I was in Puerto Rico last week, I saw with my own eyes children collecting water in streams that were likely severely contaminated. We know people are collecting water from runoff or even drinking from toxic Superfund sites. And even the water coming out of the tap is unsafe because there is no electricity to run treatment facilities. The federal government has failed the people of Puerto Rico and we need to continue to fight to get the federal response this disaster requires. But we must also continue to do what we can to care for Puerto Rico children and families. Our campaign isn’t a substitute for federal action but a necessary intervention to get as much clean water as quickly as we can to people.
“Operation Agua’s initial goal is to purchase and distribute 100,000 individual water filtration systems for households and classrooms and 50 large capacity clean water devices to a network of non-profit organizations, union offices , schools and other community based groups to provide stable and reliable sources of safe water.
“A single $30 contribution provides an in-home purifier that requires no electricity and filters and provides more than 10 gallons of safe water per day to a family. $5,000 delivers a disinfectant generator that can disinfect 150,000 gallons per day—enough safe water for hundreds of people.
“Here’s more information about Operation Agua and how organizations and individuals cane become sponsors.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m not sure how to feel about this. My union here in Los Angeles has been receiving some criticism from some of its members for devoting time and funds to issues that are related to education only indirectly, thus shortchanging teachers. I see both sides. It’s a public good and also good for public relations, but bad for contract negotiations, school board elections, and such.