South Florida volunteers rush aid to Venezuela after devastating earthquakes: "Everybody is turning out in huge support."

For Andrea Laluz, volunteering Sunday at Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) was personal.

While her own family and friends in Venezuela are safe, she said many others remain missing after buildings collapsed and entire neighborhoods were left uninhabitable.

"There are a lot of them that are missing. They don't know where they are," Laluz said. "Buildings collapsed. They're uninhabitable anymore, and they just can't go home."

Laluz is among thousands of volunteers helping unload, sort and pack supplies bound for the South American country after what aid organizations describe as some of the strongest earthquakes to strike Venezuela in more than a century.

"With everything that they've got going on, it's so much struggle for them," Laluz said. "There's always something you can do from far away, even if it's just coming here and helping."

GEM officials said the response from the South Florida community has been overwhelming, with donations topping $5 million and continuing to grow.

"It is one of the most impressive turnouts we've seen from the Venezuelan community in South Florida," said Billy Richardson with GEM. "Everybody is turning out in huge support."

While donated supplies remain critical, Richardson said financial contributions are especially valuable because they allow the organization to purchase needed items inside Venezuela.

"That lets us target all of the real big needs," Richardson said. "We're especially trying to purchase locally. We already have a warehouse in Caracas, and we're partnering with one of the biggest distribution companies in Venezuela."

GEM said it has already shipped 40,000 pounds of relief supplies to Caracas, with another 80,000 pounds scheduled to leave Monday. The organization also has relief flights scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.