DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - At the Global Empowerment Mission warehouse in Doral, preparations for aid are underway after a powerful earthquake rocked Colombia early Monday morning.
Michael Capponi, the president and CEO of Global Empowerment Mission, held meetings with his team members as they discussed their plans for aid while a team touched down in Colombia to assess what support will be necessary.
“There’s injuries, there’s significant damage to buildings. The whole western part of Colombia is really receiving this,” said Capponi.
Once they arrive, those teams will go to the most devastated areas and determine what items are needed most.
“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,” said Capponi. “We have multiple teams flying in from Guatemala and all over the region. They should be in Choco by tonight.”
A video posted to social media by one of those GEM volunteers in Colombia shows the devastation that struck the region.
Capponi said those teams will work to finish their assessment quickly to get aid to displaced families as soon as possible.
“A lot of things are open still so we’ll be able to procure with cash donations raised here, things that are needed already in Colombia. We’ll be able to start distributions, realistically, within 48 hours,” said Capponi.
Meantime, the warehouse in Doral is completely filled with critical aid items after hundreds of volunteers came to respond to the recent devastation that happened in Venezuela.
Plenty of different items were donated by those volunteers, and a lot of them included canned food items.
Clothes, food, water, family essential items and hygiene kits is usually what is needed the most, and sometimes they ask for tents and also wheelchairs.
With GEM assisting in another disaster, the need for donations will continue to grow once they begin sending in supplies.
“We have active missions all over the world so our need now actually multiplies,” said GEM executive board member Francine Delarosa.
Doral officials said the city is working to coordinate with organizations to hasten the process and get those critical supplies into the air.
“There’s cargo planes ready that we’ll be able to take, you know, Colombia has direct flights and all these things that are very – much easier accessible, we’re working with all those companies,” said Doral Mayor Christi Fraga.
With early images showing collapsed buildings, rubble in the streets, and people trapped underneath, Capponi said this is just the beginning of a long-term emergency response from GEM.
“And of course, there’s gonna be – the long road is to help people get back into the general population, back into their neighborhoods and these are very long things,” said Capponi.
To find out how you can help GEM assist those impacted by the earthquake in Colombia, click here.
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