Hours after back-to-back earthquakes hit northern Venezuela, volunteers with World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by chef José Andrés in D.C., mobilized to help distribute food to people who are in a desperate situation.
As work continued to rescue trapped people, the nonprofit was busy setting up distribution centers to help feed and care for earthquake survivors.
Despite the communications challenges in the region, WTOP was able to speak with one man working in the region to bring food and hope to so many.
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“There’s a lot of destruction from the earthquake,” said Gabriel Becker, distribution manager for World Central Kitchen.
“There’s a lot of buildings that have collapsed. There’s a lot of people that are actually coming here to help,” he said.
When the quakes hit, World Central Kitchen activated its worldwide network of chefs and volunteers to respond to the coastal area north of Caracas called La Guaira.
The nonprofit is partnering with 19 local restaurants and community organizations across Miranda, La Guaira and Carabobo to prepare and deliver fresh meals to displaced families, rescue workers, hospital staff, volunteers and people taking shelter on the streets.
“Let’s say we work with the restaurant that cooks the meal and then we have it delivered to a distribution site or we have our own fleet to go to the restaurant and pick up the food,” said Becker, adding it’s important that the food be provided locally, but they have means of collecting some food externally if necessary.
“You can imagine them having a tent, a table and this is where we serve the food together with some water,” Becker said.
“People just come by and pick up the food. This is how we do it,” he said, adding that the organization’s existing partnerships were crucial in being able to respond quickly.
Those existing partnerships, he said, enabled the organization to begin providing food almost immediately and adjust operations as needs changed from hour to hour.
The group is now serving about 10,000 meals daily, including hot dishes and ready-to-eat items such as arepas, sandwiches, perros calientes, cachitos, carne guisada and boiled plantains, all prepared by local restaurant partners.
The United Nation estimates nearly 16,000 people have been displaced in a wide region north of the nation’s capital. Becker said his team will be on-site as long as people are in need of food.
To learn how you can help the effort, you can visit World Central Kitchen’s website.
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