Holding Venezuela Close
On June 24, two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela within seconds of each other.
The Associated Press reported the earthquakes as a rare “doublet,” with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5. Some of the heaviest damage hit Caracas and La Guaira, the coastal region north of the capital. Thousands of people lost their lives, were injured, displaced, or reported missing, as rescue crews and neighbors searched through collapsed buildings.
Image credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/DaGd18RCQj0/?img_index=9. Shared for public awareness and reporting.
For Kirchner Marketing, these hits close to home.
We are a team-centered company. Our work is built by people in different places, with different stories, connected by trust. Some of our team members are in Caracas. Others have family, friends, and deep ties across Venezuela.
This makes this moment personal.
Over the past days, we have watched grief, fear, and exhaustion take shape beside something else: care. Neighbors carrying neighbors. Doctors are showing up where help is needed. Volunteers sorting supplies. Families searching for names. People inside Venezuela and across the diaspora organizing in real time.
The Washington Post reported on ordinary Venezuelans becoming first responders, using their hands, phones, cars, motorcycles, boats, and community networks to move food, water, medical supplies, information, and hope toward the people who need them most. Read The Washington Post story.
The quiet work of showing up
In a disaster, help often starts before systems arrive.
It starts with someone making sandwiches through the night.
Someone buys gauze and water for strangers.
Someone shares a Starlink password when cell service fails.
Someone translating for foreign volunteers.
Someone created a spreadsheet of missing people.
Someone cooks arepas before sunrise.
Someone asks what a community needs, then carrying the answer back.
The Washington Post also reported that Venezuelans at home and abroad used social media and digital tools to gather reports of missing people, map collapsed buildings, connect volunteers with translators, and help families trace loved ones through hospitals. Read the reporting here.
Video credit: The Associated Press (AP). Shared for public awareness and reporting.
This is volunteer work for most humans.
It is not polished. It is not easy. It often happens when people feel scared, tired, and unsure of what comes next.
Still, people show up.
We are grateful for the work our own community is doing. Our team, Sankco, Nina, Fabiana, and others, has been supporting volunteer efforts, sharing trusted information, coordinating help, and staying close to the needs on the ground.
They are doing what so many Venezuelans are doing right now.
They are paying attention.
They are helping where they are able.
They are choosing care.
What is needed now
The needs remain urgent and practical.
According to the Associated Press guide on how to help, humanitarian groups have identified needs for search and rescue, emergency shelter, health care, safe water, sanitation, food, hygiene supplies, and family reunification services.
AP also reported that organizations, including the International Red Cross, CORE, Direct Relief, World Central Kitchen, Catholic Relief Services, Global Empowerment Mission, and others, are mobilizing support.
For people outside Venezuela, money is often the fastest form of help. It lets trusted local teams buy what is needed, move resources faster, and respond as needs change.
If this story moves you, please give through a trusted donation path.
Where to donate
If you want to help, we encourage you to give through trusted channels with clear information about where funds go. Direct support helps local teams respond to the needs changing by the hour.
Start here:
This direct donation page supports families affected by the earthquake. Our team is sharing this link because it connects to Venezuelan-led initiatives with transparency practices and documentation.
Other donation options listed by AP include:
- Global Empowerment Mission, working with We Love Foundation to move emergency supplies into Caracas.
- CORE, working with The Wayuu Taya Foundation to support families with food, drinking water, hygiene kits, and other resources.
- Direct Relief, supporting search-and-rescue deployment and preparing medical supplies for local health partners.
- International Red Cross, supporting evacuation, search efforts, care, and family-link services through Red Cross networks in Venezuela and nearby countries.
- World Central Kitchen, mobilizing to serve hot meals to affected families and first responders.
- Catholic Relief Services, working with Caritas Venezuela to deliver shelter, food, water, and medical care.
Before giving, look for clear answers:
- Who receives the funds?
- How will the funds be used?
- Who is distributing aid on the ground?
- Does it share updates, documents, or public reporting?
AP cited Charity Navigator’s guidance to avoid fraudulent campaigns by checking whether an organization has experience with this kind of disaster, works in the affected region, and has clear nonprofit status. Read AP’s donation guidance.