Canadian tree farmers gift hundreds of Christmas trees to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico

CTV Atlantic: Farmers donating trees to Puerto Rico Nova Scotia farmers are doing their part to spread some holiday cheer in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. CTV’s Kyle Moore has more.

As Puerto Rico continues to grapple with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Nova Scotian Christmas tree farmers are hoping an old tradition will help inspire hope and optimism among those reeling from the damage.

Scott MacKinnon has been sending Christmas trees to Puerto Rico for 15 years – a ritual he was sure would come to an end after Hurricane Maria hit the island in late September. The hurricane left Puerto Rico almost entirely in the dark, ravaging power lines, cellphone towers, roads, and ports in its wake.

“After the hurricane we hadn’t heard from our customer,’ MacKinnon told CTV Atlantic. “We kind of thought that was it, like there’s no power, they won’t be ordering trees. So we just kind of put it in the back of our mind.”

Soon enough, MacKinnon’s customer was able to get in contact. The two then came up with the idea of donating Christmas trees to help lift the spirits of people who are still dealing with the destruction.

MacKinnon is now filling a container of 500 trees to be donated to Puerto Rico.

“If you seen the pictures, it’s not a good time right now,” MacKinnon told CTV Atlantic. “Hopefully [my customer] is just going to give them all away and people will have something positive.”

The trees were transported from St. Andrews, N.S., to Halifax on Tuesday. They’re expected to arrive in Puerto Rico on Nov. 13 – just in time for American Thanksgiving.

“They have a long history of trees in Puerto Rico,” MacKinnon said. “They love Christmas and the ceremony around it and the tree being the central part of it.”

Gifting Christmas trees internationally is not unbeknown to Nova Scotia. For decades, the province has been sending a Christmas tree to Boston as a thank-you for the city’s help during the Halifax Explosion in 1917. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the disaster.

With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore