DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - As residents in western Colombia cope with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and search crews race against time to pull survivors from the rubble, the Global Empowerment Mission is getting ready to head to the South American country with supplies and helping hands.
Throughout the morning and afternoon on Tuesday, 7News cameras captured volunteers at GEM’s headquarters in Doral sorting through all the different collections and donations that have been dropped off at the warehouse.
Coordinators at GEM are still asking for more people to come through with much-needed items, with their time and with cash donations. All of these resources will be on a plane Tuesday afternoon and sometime on Wednesday so that it can be distributed to the hardest hit areas.
Colombians in Miami-Dade County, meanwhile, were still reeling after learning of Monday’s powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake that rocked the western part of the country.
“Actually, all my family is from Pereira, but we finally ended up calling in. All of them are OK, but we have a lot of people, a lot of houses damaged,” said South Florida resident Cristian Rincon.
“Basically, my family is in Bogotá, and it was felt very strongly there. But thank God, everyone is all right,” said a man through a translator.
Others shared the importance of helping the residents of Colombia in need.
“We have to help,” said a South Floridian volunteer. “Unfortunately they are suffering a lot.”
“A lot of people missing, and I do know a lot of people that know people, and it’s just really been a mess.” said another South Floridian volunteer.
Meanwhile, at DEBLEX in Doral, Colombians across South Florida came together to donate supplies to Colombia.
“We’re volunteering and helping because as much as we can help, and as fast as we can get help to Colombia, it’s going to be the most useful for everyone,” said Paulina Estrada.
As the desperate search for survivors grows, so does the urgent need for resources.
GEM President and founder Michael Capponi addressed reporters during a news conference held late Tuesday morning.
“A 7.4 magnitude earthquake in any populated city is never a very good recipe,” he said. “There’s towns and cities all throughout Colombia right now that are completely destroyed.”
Capponi also emphasized the need for donations of tents and other supplies after people were displaced from their homes.
“You’re gonna need a lot of tents unfortunately, there’s a lot of damaged homes and it’s safer to be camped out in a tent in a street corner than going back in your building when there’s aftershocks and you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
GEM executive board member Francine Delarosa told 7News things have changed since they collected critical aid for the victims of Venezuela’s back-to-back earthquakes in June.
“Different than when the disaster began in Venezuela, where this was our only location. We’ve now expanded to four warehouses, so we have the capacity to house or welcome more volunteers, but again, the need is double,” she said.
Meanwhile, help from South Florida is already on the ground.
“Just came back from our third trip to Venezuela, so, and some of our team went for a break to Colombia. Imagine the coincidence, and now they’re there, and we have multiple teams flying in from Guatemala and from all over the region,” said Capponi.
Capponi said members of his team experienced the earthquake, with GEM videographer Spencer Taylor, who was on vacation with his family in Colombia, able to record video in the immediate aftermath.
“A massive earthquake just struck in Colombia. I’m in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and we had to evacuate this building with our family,” said Taylor in the video.
Taylor later spoke with 7News about the earthquake.
“I was in Bucaramanga with my family when the earthquake happened yesterday morning, and the shaking lasted for over a minute,” he said. “And Bucaramanga is quite far from where we’re at right now. Here it’s a little more sporadic, one single earthquake, but the destruction is still severe.”
Taylor also provided details about the ongoing search-and-rescue efforts.
“There are still – they’re saying possibly about 10 people that are trapped underneath the rubble, so they have recovered a few bodies, unfortunately,” he said.
Capponi said GEM will be able to move quickly and begin distributions in about 48 hours. The warehouse in Doral is still packed with critical aid for Venezuela, and they’re partnering up with the organization Unos Colombia and the City of Doral to send much-needed aid over to South America.
“A lot of products that can be purchased on the ground there for a much less costly price to be able to make sure that what they specifically need is available to them, so the request here will be different,” said Doral Mayor Christi Fraga.
As for what items are the ones GEM is asking for now, they are:
- Tents
- Tarps
- Sleeping bags
- Blankets
- Hygiene products
- First aid kits
Capponi said he is flying out to Colombia later in the afternoon, and the plan is to start distribution in the next 24 hours.
“We are calling on the diaspora community of South Florida and the United States to, you know, come together and, once again, do what we did for Venezuela for Colombia,” he said.
Now, Colombia faces a long road to recovery.
“There’s going to be, the long road is always to help people get back into the general population, back into their neighborhood,” said Capponi.
For more information about how you can help GEM by volunteering, bringing supples or giving cash donations, click here.
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