Donations poured into a Venezuelan restaurant in Pasadena on Sunday, with the items set to be flown to Venezuela to help those impacted by Wednesday’s powerful back-to-back earthquakes.
The death toll has jumped to more than 1,400 people, the government reported Sunday afternoon.
Volunteers at Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine boxed up dozens of essentials — from hygiene products and food to blankets and sleeping bags. Yesika Baker, the restaurant’s owner, organized the drive and said donations have been coming from Santa Barbara to Bakersfield.
“We are sending a lot of sleeping bags because a lot of friends, they are sleeping in the houses of friends, and they don’t have extra beds,” Baker said.
Other donation organizers said they are shipping donations to a nonprofit in Venezuela called Helping Children, which will then distribute the items.
“This is literally just from word of mouth and people being able to connect with each other,” volunteer Alfredo Papadakis said. “And it’s not for any other reason except for simple human needs — super help. That’s the definition of community.”
Additional medical help is also on the way to Venezuela. Team Rubicon, a humanitarian aid organization, is preparing to deploy a team to support recovery efforts.
“The things that you can see after a disaster like this one, you can see a lot of trauma, orthopedic injuries. Whether it’s an older person, an adult, or a young child, you can see infections,” said Liam Brown, medical practitioner and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) expert. “We are ready to get to work, and we’re just waiting for the request.”
Baker says she’s expecting more donations on Monday.