For most people, the last few weeks of summer were spent preparing for school and enjoying the final days of freedom on the beach, or outside under the sun. Something that countless people were not prepared for was their lives turning upside down or being lost all together. In the past few weeks, Mother Nature’s relentless wrath has destroyed many homes, land, and lives.

We have watched Mother Nature be blind to race, gender, financial status, and political views, while wiping out hundreds of homes, yet, instead of coming together, we are still a divided nation. We are a nation that cares about Kylie Jenner’s pregnancy instead of the mother’s who lost their lives saving their babies in the floods of Houston.

We care more about NFL football players kneeling for the national anthem instead of the fathers who knelt in pain before their destroyed homes or dead sons in Florida. We are so wrapped up in what President Trump has said about those same football players instead of hearing the pleas of help from the victims of these past natural disasters, no matter where they are.

There have been videos all over social media which showcase “how to eat/drink ____” challenges where food items are being thrown away or dumped down the drain for a few likes and laughs on Facebook. Captions read “how to drink milk,” while the person opens a brand new gallon of milk and pours it down the kitchen sink. There are other videos of Starbucks drinks, which range anywhere from $5-$8, being dumped as well.

I can only imagine what the people of Houston, Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Caribbean islands would say if they saw these videos of people easily throwing away food they so desperately wish they could get. In Puerto Rico, people have been without water for over a week, and there are people in the U.S. wasting food items for social media views.

News and social media drive what we focus on. It has the power to redirect our attention to other events, one after the other. Puerto Rico needs our help, just as well as many others in the Caribbean, Mexico, and even here in our own nation in parts of Florida and Texas.

Do not stop sharing the news updates on your social media, because for most of us, this is how we hear about the progress in these devastated places. Mother Nature did not care about who you voted for last November. She does not care what your skin color is. This is not about politics. This is not about race. This is not about who has more power or more money. This is about lending a hand and helping other people in need, even if they do not share the same citizenship as you. This is about coming together, not just as a nation, but as people of this Earth to help one another, to heal humanity and get it to where it needs to be.

This is a humanitarian crisis and helping these victims should not be an option, it should be something we just do. It should be something where we come together as people and help each other to rebuild; whether it is our nation, foreign lands, homes, or lives of people who have been devastated. They need our help and they should not be forgotten.