Deadly Venezuela earthquakes have Chicago community racing to send help, reach loved ones
Nearly 200 people have died and more than 1,500 have been injured by a pair of powerful Venezuela earthquakes. Those numbers are expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.
Chicago's Venezuelan community is now racing to get in touch with their loved ones and banding together to get anything that can help to those back home.
The earthquakes are among the strongest to hit the South American nation in more than a century, and for Chicagoans with family there, the strongest feeling today is helplessness.
"I just feel very nervous and overwhelmed," said Ivana Suarez.
Suarez was working at Rica Arepa restaurant in Hermosa Thursday, but her mind was focused on her family back home in Puerto Cabello, just miles away from the epicenter of the quakes.
"My father called me during the earthquakes and I felt very much panicked because I heard all the noise from the earthquake," she told CBS News Chicago in Spanish.
She said while her family's home is still standing, the building is badly damaged.
"Thankfully all of my family members are OK, but they are outside in the streets. There is no electricity," she said.
"We're deeply concerned about all the families affected," said Valeria Uzcategui, the restaurant's manager.
Rica Arepa has quickly become one of many donation collection points being set up across the city.
"We're also going to be donating 50% of our sales today, and the waitresses have agreed, or they have volunteered, to share their tips as well, 100% of their tips," Uzcategui said.
The restaurant is working with the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance to get the donations to people who need them.
"We will be able to help ship to Miami and then from Miami they will be doing the shipping to Venezuela," said founder Anna Gil Garcia.
But the IVA's work goes beyond donations; they're asking for a temporary protected status for Venezuelans who are set to be deported.
"We are just asking for that at this moment, not only protecting our community there in Venezuela, but also protecting our community here," Garcia said.
If you'd like to donate to the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance to help the survivors of the earthquake, you can do so on their website.
If you'd like to donate supplies to be shipped to the affected areas, you can drop them off at all three locations of Rica Arepa:
Rica Arepa Lakeview
3913 N. Lincoln Ave.
Rica Arepa Armitage
4253 W. Armitage Avenue
Rica Arepa Addison
7534 W. Addison St.
All three locations open daily at 10 a.m.
