At the Global Empowerment Mission warehouse in Doral, hundreds of volunteers hurried past each other to pack emergency supplies for families affected by the powerful earthquakes that devastated Venezuela earlier this week.
Baby clothes, diapers, bottles and first aid supplies were sent down long assembly lines before being loaded onto pallets bound for the northern regions of the country that have been most impacted.
Mary Mancera, 32, who is originally from Venezuela, rushed to pack boxes in the warehouse. For her, hearing the news of this earthquake from afar was devastating — and even doing what she can from South Florida doesn't feel appropriate.
“You’re not there,” she said. “We can’t lift the rubble, offer food or have direct contact with people. It just feels like it’s not gonna be enough.”
READ MORE: Venezuela is reeling from earthquakes, as the rising death toll nears 1,000
More than 500 volunteers spent their Friday collecting donations. Emotions were high in the warehouse as some volunteers tearfully consoled each other.
“My extended family is not ok. A couple people have lost their homes.” Mancera said. “I have friends and close relatives that have people in Caracas, in La Guaira, and their relatives are still missing.”
Two earthquakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck northern Venezuela Wednesday evening — the most destructive earthquakes in over a century. As of Friday afternoon, the death toll in the country was at 920, with over 3,300 injured and 172 people still trapped in the rubble, according to Jorge Rodríguez, the leader of the country’s National Assembly.
Rescuers are racing to reach survivors that are stuck under rubble in a country that’s already dealing with political and financial crises. Emergency responders are working within what experts call a “golden window”, a 48-72 hour period when survivors can still be rescued from the rubble.
But this period increases if there is adequate access to food and water. Organizations like GEM are trying to extend this golden window.
The sense of urgency was palpable even in the Doral warehouse. Paola Rodriguez, 35, rushed past Mancera carrying a box of donations. She currently lives in Broward but spent most of her life in Venezuela with her family.
“We don’t have the help we need from the government [in Venezuela].” Rodriguez told WLRN. “So, the people are helping each other with their hands"
In La Guaira, many families are looking for their missing loved ones themselves before this “golden window” runs out. Venezuelans in the country have reported that they’ve seen few state rescue teams in the hardest-hit areas.
“I have some friends that don’t even know if their families are still alive,” Rodriguez said. “And they are trying to locate them or just know something about them. It’s so frustrating when you can’t go there.”
A website that documents missing persons during the earthquake has so far listed over 50,000 people as missing in the country, though many reports have not yet been verified since communication is limited in some areas.
The response from relief organizations
Walking through the rows of volunteers was Santi Chumaceiro, co-founder of I Love Venezuela, a Miami-based nonprofit organization that was founded by a group of Venezuelans to support communities in their home country.
“The country has suffered a lot,” she said. “I spoke to a nonprofit yesterday that is receiving kids that lost their parents. So, that’s who we’re going to give our first aid to.”
Chumaceiro is preparing to fly into Venezuela with GEM to see the extent of the devastation with their own eyes and assist with relief efforts.
In Caracas, GEM has set a distribution center in place to receive incoming donations that will be sorted before being delivered to communities across the affected region.
“Our hub will be in the center of Caracas, but there are many other neighboring cities that are in desperate and dire need,” Francine De La Rosa, a board member for GEM, said. “So, we use our local connections and smaller partnering foundations to help us distribute donations.”
Outside of the warehouse, cars lined up around the perimeter of the warehouse with trunks full of donations. As each cars pulled in, volunteers cheered.
For Mancera, those moments of joy were overwhelming. “The energy of the Venezuelan people is amazing. In times of need, we always come together,” Mancera said. “It makes us want to cry,”
Rodriguez was also touched by the sound of volunteers cheering as another car pulled up to the warehouse.
“I feel so proud to be Venezuelan," she told WLRN. “And at this moment, I am calling for more people to help. We need more hands.”
Global Empowerment Mission is located at 1850 NW 84th Ave, Unit 100 in Doral and is accepting donations.
