LA Volunteers Collect 3 Tons of Aid for Venezuela

When earthquakes devastated Venezuela, a small Venezuelan restaurant in downtown Los Angeles transformed into something much bigger: a lifeline for thousands of people half a world away.

Full Arepas on 7th Street has collected about 3 tons of supplies since Wednesday. Volunteers have gathered blankets, baby supplies, toiletries, and nonperishable food from donors across Southern California.

"All of the volunteers here are different nationalities, different backgrounds, but we all come together through community, through social media, and we're here to help," said volunteer Maggie Santiago. The grassroots effort shows how quickly strangers can unite when disaster strikes.

For many volunteers, this work feels deeply personal. Jose Fernandez has friends who lost their fathers in the earthquakes and others who lost their homes. His own family lost two apartments but survived.

"I have some friends who lose their fathers, and then I have some friends who lose their homes, too," Fernandez said. Despite being grateful his family survived, the losses hit close to home.

The Ripple Effect

The supplies will travel to Helping Children, a Venezuelan nonprofit that will distribute them to affected communities. For Santiago, the significance goes beyond the physical items.

"Going to a third world country, a lot of times people don't understand that the commodities we have here in the U.S. are just not readily available," she explained. Basic necessities Americans take for granted can mean everything to families rebuilding their lives.

The volunteers say taking action during helplessness gives them hope. "Being able to give that message of love, of hope, of unity is solidarity," Santiago said.

Fernandez sees the effort as keeping Venezuelan culture alive in Los Angeles. "In Venezuela, we are a family. Everybody knows everybody, and then we will create a big community. And when someone loses something, we try to help them, and then we try to keep that culture here."

As rescue efforts continue in Venezuela, this downtown LA restaurant proves that community has no borders.