After back-to-back earthquakes devastated cities in northern and central Venezuela in June, almost a dozen South American restaurants across Western Washington have taken action to help.
Isamary and Ulises Andrade are the owners of Arepa Venezuelan Kitchen, which has locations in Seattle and Bellevue. After the earthquakes, the couple assembled a team of restaurant owners from North Seattle to Tacoma to gather medical supplies, clothes, and non-perishable foods.
“Every single restaurant that was in the list that was working together in this mission, they just started to come, and they didn't stop, so less than 24 hours, we had so much stuff,” Isamary said through tears. “Any time I just remember all these days, your heart just feels so grateful because in these times is when you see how people rise, how people connect.”
Isamary said more than 100 volunteers from different countries quickly organized items before they were boxed into pallets.
“We had people from Venezuela, different cities…It didn't matter your immigration status. It didn't matter all that,” she said. “It was just one goal, that it was to just get everything together for people that was still in need right now at this moment.”
Restaurant employees and volunteers worked to organize items before they were boxed and put on pallets, each containing roughly 10 to 15 boxes of various sizes.
Within a week of the earthquakes, the group sent a total of 52 pallets to Miami via truck and later shipped to Venezuela by the nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission, which has the capacity to take more physical aid.
The Andrades are holding remaining donations at a storage unit until another shipment can be sent out.
