Global Empowerment Mission president back in South Florida after weeks helping 115,000 people in Venezuela

The president of Global Empowerment Mission is back in South Florida after spending two and a half weeks in Venezuela and he says the crisis there is far from over.

Michael Capponi returned to the nonprofit's Doral headquarters, where he described the scale of the devastation firsthand. He estimates half a million people are currently living in tents and on the streets in Venezuela.

GEM says it has helped 115,000 people so far. Since June 24, the organization has coordinated 16 cargo planes, 7 shipping containers and 5 military landing craft to move aid into the country.

The nonprofit has now established a permanent warehouse in La Guiria, described as the hardest-hit area of Venezuela.

"This is not a typical thing where you know where we could forget about it after three weeks or a month," Capponi said. "This is a very big important haul that we have to do here, a marathon. We have to keep aid flowing through this warehouse indefinitely because people are going to need that kind of support."

Amazon donated $100,000 to GEM on Friday afternoon. The organization said it needs similar support from other companies.

GEM currently holds warehouse space equal to five Costco stores, including its Doral location, filled with donations from 37 states. Volunteers were loading FedEx trucks with supplies, with the next shipment to Venezuela scheduled for Sunday.