Colorado community rallies to support Venezuela earthquake relief, raises $50,000 in 48 hours

The Trump administration says it continues to coordinate a massive humanitarian response following the deadly earthquakes in Venezuela. The White House says the U.S. has committed more than $386 million in relief assistance and established a humanitarian air bridge to deliver aid to the hardest-hit communities. But even with that federal response, nonprofit organizations say private donations remain critical to getting supplies directly into the hands of survivors. In Denver, one local fundraiser is helping make that happen.

What began as one employee's devastating loss quickly grew into a community-wide effort to help earthquake victims in Venezuela.

The Culinary Creative Group said the idea for a fundraiser took shape after learning one of their own was searching for 13 missing relatives following the earthquake in Venezuela.

"A couple of days later, they found three alive and 10 dead," said Juan Padro, founder of Culinary Creative Group.

Padro says this is just one example of many who share a similar story at his company. 

Among those affected was another employee, who identifies as Alex, who said she first realized the scale of the disaster while leaving work.

"I started seeing all the buildings that went down. People are missing," Alex said. "Then I went on Instagram and saw five of my family members who lived in La Guaira were missing. I was like, 'This is serious. This is not good.'"

Motivated to help, Padro and local Venezuelan community leaders organized Unidos por Venezuela, a fundraising event that brought together chefs, local businesses and neighbors to support relief efforts.

"We said, 'We're going to set a $20,000 goal,'" Padro said. "It was short notice, but we wanted to see if we could make a difference."

Just one day before the event, organizers had sold only 21 tickets. After making calls throughout the community, the event sold out.

Padro credited that success to volunteers and local businesses.

"People donated their time, bartended for free and donated their tips," he said. "All the spaces, all the labor, everything."

Proceeds from the event will support organizations including Third Wave Volunteers, which has teams working in Venezuela.

"We've had people on the ground since day two and three," said Dr. Alison Thompson, founder of Third Wave Volunteers. "It's like Sept. 11 times 1,000. There are tens of thousands of people under collapsed buildings, and we just can't get to them."

Thompson said one of the organization's immediate priorities is providing solar lights to people displaced by the disaster.

"We're trying to get tens of thousands on the ground because it's still not enough with everyone living in the streets," she said. "We're so thankful for this fundraiser so we can get a lot more solar lights because it's one of the biggest needs with people in the dark."

As search and recovery efforts continue, organizers say the overwhelming community response shows how local support can make a difference for families thousands of miles away.