After a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday — little more than a month after twin quakes devastate neighboring Venezuela — the South Florida community is again being asked to step up with relief donations.
And once again, the nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission, or GEM, in Doral has taken the lead.
Aid efforts are especially urgent in this case, say Colombian diaspora activists, because the earthquake's epicenter was inside the remote Pacific coastal state of Chocó, part of one of the country's more impoverished regions.
GEM president Michael Capponi told WLRN the most important items donors can bring to its warehouse at 1850 NW 84th Avenue in Doral are first aid and camping gear — such as tents and blankets — for the thousands of Colombians injured and forced from their homes by the disaster.
Capponi said GEM prefers cash donations for items it can more effectively procure and distribute inside Colombia, such as food, water and hygiene kits.
GEM will be making its first distributions of aid it's now flying in from Miami on Wednesday at 3 pm in the hard hit city of Pereira. The larger city of Cali will be the focus on Thursday, followed by other affected sites such as Manizales, where a historic cathedral crumbled in the earthquake.
READ MORE: Colombia searches for over 3,000 missing after a powerful earthquake kills more than 100
Colombian community leaders say aid can also be sent via Servientrega in South Florida locations such as Kendall. (Servientrega is a company that specializes in shipping services to Colombia and other Andean nations.)
Online donations can be made to nonprofits including the Cruz Roja Colombiana and DirectRelief.
In Broward County, Colombian organizations mounting relief efforts include Semillas Colombia. It's partnering with local churches such as Grace Alone in Fort Lauderdale and Iglesia de Cristo in Oakland Park to receive donations.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the death toll from the Colombian quake was at least 220, and was expected to rise.
The Colombian government has declared a national disaster. The U.S. has so far pledged $15.5 million for relief.
