SANFORD, Fla. – Weeks after powerful back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast, a Sanford mother and daughter are turning their home into a hub for relief — collecting donations and rallying their community to help those left behind.
On June 24, two major earthquakes devastated La Guaira, the state hardest hit by the disaster. At least 2,295 people have been killed, thousands remain missing, and Venezuelan officials are struggling to collect, identify, and preserve bodies for families still searching for answers.
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Thatiana Neal and her daughter Catheryn Gutierrez set up a donation tent and have been spreading the word through social media and word of mouth, urging Sanford neighbors to drop off supplies.
“We are from Venezuela. So, this is the least we can do to help our people,” Thatiana said.
A personal connection to the disaster
The family has called Central Florida home for 24 years, living in Sanford for eight of them. But their roots in Venezuela keep them deeply connected to the crisis unfolding thousands of miles away.
Thatiana said her own family survived the earthquakes, but the relief that comes with that knowledge is difficult to hold onto.
“Our family is fine. They are fine. Scared. But it’s a lot of families that are not. It’s almost like you cannot enjoy the relief of knowing that your family is OK, because it’s tens of thousands of families that are not OK. They have lost everything. They have lost people,” she said.
Gutierrez says they’ve been looking for ways to help their home country ever since the disaster.
I came here when I was 12, and I don’t think that we’ve ever felt such a passion for us to help or go back or connected to our country ever since we left," said Gutierrez. “So, this is our little way of giving back, helping and being connected, reconnected to our country.”
What’s urgently needed
Baby supplies are among the most critical items needed right now, Thatiana said.
Diapers, baby wipes, bottles, milk and formula top the list, along with hygiene products and over-the-counter medications. Thatiana said earthquake survivors are living on the streets without access to basic necessities.
The donation tent is set up near Park Avenue and 19th Street in Sanford, where items are protected from the elements and monitored closely by the family.
How donations get to Venezuela
The family says all of the items that are collected will be handed over to Global Empowering Mission to transport donations to Venezuela. The organization has committed to delivering 15,000 pallets of supplies. Representatives will travel to the Sanford area to pick up donations and transport them to Miami, where they are then shipped to Venezuela.
The drive goes on
Thatiana said there is no end date for the collection effort — the need in Venezuela will stretch on for months.
“We’re going to keep doing it here until people get tired of us of these signs. We’re here until whenever we’re needed. The help that Venezuela needs is going to be for months and months to come,” she said.
In addition to dropping off supplies locally, the family encouraged the community to donate to organizations such as World Central Kitchen, UNICEF, Hope, Solar Foundation, as well as a GoFundMe campaign linked to the relief effort.
“Donate. Just donate,” Thatiana said. “If you see signs or people on the streets and even local businesses, just go in there and drop off a little. Anything helps.”