Congas and Chill, a Salsa Na Ma’ Fundraiser for Puerto Rico

By Olga Hernandez

An explosion of love for Puerto Rico with bursts of flavor and jubilee, is how we would describe our celebration of the International Day of Charity on September 5th. We celebrated this special day with our friend Danny Conga @dconga112, who brought us a perfectly curated salsa playlist during his Instagram live Congas and Chill - Salsa Na Ma’ special edition.

The carefully curated playlist included salsa classics such as Fuego a la Jicotea, Pedro Navaja, El Cantante, El Nazareno, and Aguanile to name a few which automatically transported us to a beach day with la familia in playa Loiza or making alcapurrias in abuela’s kitchen. Salsa music is what brought us together to celebrate a magical place where we are reminded of love and good memories.  

Danny who is a native New Yorker with boricua roots started his love for conga and community service at a young age.

Danny tells us “I was always drawn to congas. As a kid, I sat in the front row at church and watched the conguero play. I would play along on my lap trying to mimic his every move. One Thursday night at a youth service, he let the 8-year-old me play the congas;  I’ve been a conguero ever since”.  Danny has transformed his talent into community uplifting by using his gift of music to help fundraise for Puerto Rico.  

His Congas and Chill special edition of Salsa Na Ma’ was held to help raise funds for the Friends of Puerto Rico’s SEEDS students’ program. SEEDS is a youth entrepreneurship program for students aged 9+ to learn business skills and become a part of the new generation of Puerto Rican entrepreneurs. The program’s first cohort consisted of 100 students from five public schools on the island, where they learned entrepreneurship and obtained hands-on experience to become the first generation in their families to make it out of poverty. 

In this two-hour Instagram Live Salsa Na Ma special edition for Puerto Rico, Danny helped us raise $615, proving that music is always the perfect formula to share love, kindness, and generosity. 

Thank you Danny for a magical Salsa Na Ma special edition fundraiser and for sharing your love for Puerto Rico. We can all find ways to spread and share the love for our island and pay it forward to our students. #InternationalDayofCharity #FriendsofPuertoRico #LetsBeFriends

You can check out the curated playlist for Congas and Chill Salsa Na Ma special edition here:

For more ways to share your love and support Puerto Rico click here: https://www.friendsofpuertorico.org/