WESTCHASE — Jorge Lopez is sending his love home to Venezuela, along with a truckload of supplies.
Lopez, who left Venezuela for the U.S. about 10 years ago, has rallied his corner of Westchase to collect donations for survivors of the two earthquakes that struck his homeland within a minute of each other on June 24, killing more than 1,700 people and leaving tens of thousands missing.
From June 30 to July 4, residents could drop off donations at his pet boutique and grooming shop, Woof! Here It Is, at 10106 Montague St. in West Park Village. The response was immediate and heavy, Lopez said. He hauled the first load to Miami, where relief agencies are funneling aid to Venezuela as fast as they can clear it, and he plans to keep collecting when he returns.
Lopez said he knows no one among the dead or the missing, but he has watched the disaster ripple through the Venezuelan community at home and abroad.
“There’s a few people there that friends know, and where it was the worst was in Caracas and La Guaira,” he said. The Miami pipeline, he added, is jammed: “We were down in Miami all last week, but the lines there to send (aid over) are crazy — like one- to two-hour waits. They check everything, but it takes time.”
Lopez put out the call through community networks, social media and word of mouth across the mixed-use district where his shop sits, asking for clothing, blankets, medical supplies, hygiene items, and dog food and treats. His business neighbors pitched in right away, he said, including with a trailer to carry the supplies south.
An animal lover, Lopez said he added pet supplies with Venezuela’s stray and displaced animals in mind — and with the search dogs. One rescue dog pulled 13 people from the rubble, The Independent reported; CBS News reported that crews freed a dog trapped for five days.
The first quake, a magnitude 7.2, hit at 6:04 p.m. on June 24, followed 39 seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock. Rescue crews are still combing some 58,000 buildings that satellite imagery shows were nearly leveled, even as aftershocks continue — including a magnitude 4.6 that rumbled through the La Guaira disaster zone. The Venezuelan Red Cross expects to serve at least 300,000 people over the next two years, the Associated Press reported.
“It’s just so heartbreaking — all of it,” Lopez said. “I just wanted to do what I can, and I’m so thankful for this community helping as well.”
Donations are still being accepted at Woof! Here It Is. Lopez can also arrange pickup at woofhereitis@gmail.com.