Bethenny Frankel Calls out Major Companies for Failing to Help With Puerto Rico Relief

Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel has been hard at work helping Puerto Rico to recover from Hurricane Maria. However, she hasn’t been shy about calling out the companies and organizations whose response has been less than urgent.

Since the storm hit the American Commonwealth almost two months ago, many have been criticized for slow response time, or failing to provide aid altogether — including the president himself. Frankel is one of the few celebrities who have taken a vested personal interest in helping the thousands of islanders still trapped without food, clean water, or access to power.

Frankel has been outspoken on social media, centering her relief efforts around her charity organization, B Strong. However, the scope of Puerto Rico’s needs necessitate that she work with other charities and companies, and now that it’s time to pay up, they’re not meeting her expectations.

This Monday, on Twitter, Frankel claimed that she and B Strong are “doing it ourselves” after “BIG charities” “bailed.” Later, fans asked for the names of the charities so that they could avoid donating to them in the future. Frankel responded simply: “The big ones w big names attached.” When asked why the organizations might have bailed, she said: “BC people talk a big game until it is time to write a check.”

However, Frankel’s efforts weren’t all in vain. She confirmed on Twitter that Delivering Good, one of the groups she partnered with, is “coming through,” and encouraged her followers to keep donating to B Strong.

Frankel’s followers were shocked to hear that companies — let alone charities — were going back on promises to help with relief efforts, but many were grateful for her transparency. The conversation stirred up produced a lot of different philosophies on where donations and relief efforts could be most effective. Frankel seems to have achieved her goals despite these setbacks.