As Venezuela grieves after earthquakes, Doral becomes mission central for hope

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When disaster strikes Haiti, Cuba or Venezuela, South Florida doesn’t just watch the news. It gets to work.

That’s exactly what’s happened since two powerful earthquakes last week — measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude just seconds apart — struck northern Venezuela, devastating the coastal state of La Guaira, leaving thousands dead, tens of thousands unaccounted for and homeless, and causing severe damage in Caracas and neighboring areas. Entire neighborhoods crumbled into piles of concrete and steel.

While rescue crews continue searching for survivors — and they pulled a 21-year-old man alive from the rubble Monday after 106 hours — another operation for humanitarian relief is unfolding nearly 1,400 miles away, in the city of Doral.

Warehouses are filling with donated supplies. Volunteers are working around the clock. Restaurants, churches, businesses and community organizations have become collection points. WhatsApp groups that usually buzz with neighborhood chatter have turned into lifelines, connecting families searching for loved ones and coordinating relief efforts.

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If Doral has long been called “Doralzuela,” this week it has become something more: the unofficial command center for a community determined to help its homeland.

For many here, this isn’t about charity. It’s about family. It’s about friends. It’s about the neighborhood where they grew up. It’s about the grandmother they haven’t heard from in days. It’s about the cousin whose apartment building collapsed.

It’s about home.

That is why the response has been so immediate and so deeply personal.

One of the local leaders helping organize that effort is Doral Councilman Rafael Pineyro, who was born in Caracas before making South Florida his second home.

“The events unfolding in Venezuela are deeply personal to me,” Pineyro wrote in a message to residents Monday. “Like so many families in our community, I have loved ones, lifelong friends and cherished memories tied to the country where I was born.”

The City of Doral is working with Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), to provide relief to the families suffering the fallout of the earthquakes in Venezuela. Pineyro is encouraging residents to contribute financially through GEM, volunteer their time, donate supplies or services, and join a community-wide effort to coordinate relief.

“The answer is that every contribution matters,” he wrote.

To better organize those willing to help, Pineyro — first elected in 2022 with 51% against Susie Castillo in the runoff, and again in 2024 when he got 60% — has launched a community support form and a dedicated “SOS Venezuela” WhatsApp group to connect volunteers, businesses and organizations with relief efforts as needs evolve.

The effort reflects what many South Floridians already know: Doral is home to one of the largest Venezuelan communities anywhere outside Venezuela. When tragedy hits there, it reverberates here.

Phones ring at all hours with calls from relatives. Families wait anxiously for text messages that may not come. Neighbors comfort one another while trying to figure out the fastest way to send food, medicine, diapers and hope.

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“Many of our families and friends have been deeply impacted, which is why this tragedy hits so close to home and to our hearts,” Mayor Cristi Fraga said at a press conference last week, thanking everyone for the donations received so far.

“To our Venezuelan community, we are praying for you. Please know that we stand with you,” Fraga said. “You are an important part of this city and during this difficult time, you have our unwavering commitment and support.”

Global Empowerment Mission, headquartered in Doral, has quickly become one of the central hubs for that humanitarian response, coordinating volunteers and shipments bound for Venezuela as donations continue pouring in from across South Florida. The organization has an exceptional 100% financial and administrative transparency score on Charity Navigator.

The road to recovery will be measured not in days or weeks but in years. There will be time later to debate governments, infrastructure failures and politics.

Today, however, South Florida’s Venezuelan community — and many of their friends in the 305 — are hyper focused on something much simpler: Helping.

As Pineyro reminded residents, “Our strength has always been our people.”

This week, Doral is proving him right.

Want to help? The City of Doral, Global Empowerment Mission and several South Florida organizations are collecting monetary donations and emergency supplies for earthquake victims in Venezuela. The greatest needs include bottled water, nonperishable food, first-aid supplies, baby items, hygiene products, pet supplies and emergency gear like flashlights, tarps, batteries or solar phone chargers.

For more information or to donate online, visit Global Empowerment Mission. , which already has teams on the ground in Venezuela, or by calling 800-995-7604. They are accepting donations at 1850 NW 84th Ave., Suite 100, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and may need more volunteers, too.

The city of Doral has also opened three other donation sites in partnership with GEM: At Coral Legacy Park Community Center, 11400 NW 82nd St. (5 p.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays), the lobby of the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Office, 2700 NW 87th Ave., and El Arapazo Restaurant, 10191 NW 58th St., 24-7.

The Inter Miami CF Foundation and the City of Doral are also collecting supplies at Nu Stadium, 1900 NW 37th Ave., Miami

The Miramar has launched its own relief drive with several 24-hour drop-off sites, including the Miramar Police Headquarters, 11765 City Hall Promenade or five  Miramar Fire Stations. For more information call 954-602-4357 or go to City of Miramar Venezuela Relief Information.