1 month after Venezuela earthquakes, South Florida aid effort continues

DORAL, Fla. — One month after back-to-back earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela, relief organizations are continuing to deliver lifesaving supplies as search efforts remain underway for tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for.

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The disaster has also mobilized South Florida’s large Venezuelan community, with volunteers and humanitarian groups working around the clock to send aid overseas.

At the Global Empowerment Mission warehouse in Doral, the pace has not slowed since the earthquakes struck.

“What started as a large-scale relief effort, one month later is still exactly that,” said Billy Richardson, the organization’s director of logistics.

According to Richardson, GEM has shipped 2,433 pallets of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, totaling more than 3 million pounds of emergency supplies and more than $12 million in humanitarian assistance.

“We’ve sent over 2,400 pallets so far,” Richardson said. “It’s about 1,440 metric tons of aid — over $12 million worth of aid.”

The organization also has teams on the ground in Venezuela working to distribute supplies directly to survivors.

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“Over in Venezuela, we have a team with two warehouses, and we’re doing distributions almost on a daily basis,” Richardson said.

Volunteers have played a critical role in sustaining the relief operation, with many making significant personal sacrifices to help.

“It’s been amazing,” Richardson said. “There’s been people that have taken their entire PTO to come volunteer. I’ve heard people have quit their jobs to volunteer.”

Despite the massive response, Richardson said the humanitarian crisis is far from over.

“It’s still the beginning,” he said. “We still have a really high need for basic needs — canned goods, canned protein, canned vegetables, canned fruits.”

GEM is continuing to accept donations and recruit volunteers as recovery efforts in Venezuela move into their second month, with organizers saying the need for food, supplies and financial support remains urgent.

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