Communities across South Florida are mobilizing to help Venezuela recover from the earthquakes that devastated the country, delivering aid abroad while welcoming home local first responders who joined the relief effort. The disaster killed more than 3,300 people and injured over 16,000, drawing in humanitarian groups, local officials and rescue crews from the Miami area.
The nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission is on the ground in Venezuela, delivering much-needed supplies to affected communities. The organization said it has so far delivered 2.5 million dollars worth of supplies on six cargo planes, and it remains committed to providing more than 35 million dollars in aid over the next six months.
The group is distributing what it describes as family necessities kits, boxes filled with food, hygiene items and water, each intended to sustain a household for at least a couple of days. Representatives said cash donations are especially critical to keeping the relief effort going as the needs on the ground remain immense.
The effort carries particular weight in Doral, which is home to one of the largest Venezuelan communities in the country. Doral Mayor Christie Fraga shared a video on social media honoring Venezuelan Independence Day, underscoring the deep ties between the South Florida city and the country now in crisis.
Local first responders who were deployed to Venezuela to assist with the operation are expected to return home tonight. They were set to arrive at Miami International Airport's Terminal J, where officials planned to greet the crews as they came back from the disaster zone.
Urban Search and Rescue teams, along with Florida Task Force One and Florida Task Force Two, worked alongside local first responders and other international organizations in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Their deployment placed South Florida crews at the center of the broader international response to the disaster.
With thousands dead and tens of thousands injured, the scale of the earthquakes has spurred a sustained push for donations and long-term support. Organizers say the need will continue in the months ahead as families in Venezuela work to recover from one of the country's deadliest disasters in recent memory.