On Saturday, the death toll rose sharply to 1,430, and families reported at least 68,900 people missing, three days after the one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes devastated the South American nation.
One of the collection sites is Quericozon Venezuela, a restaurant in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, where volunteers have spent the last two days gathering donations. Community members have contributed a wide range of essentials, from personal hygiene products to medications.
"Everyone here we know everything our country is going through so basically we're just collecting a lot of things like medications and things for personal use like shampoos," said Adriana Rozza, who is helping with the fundraiser.
Organizers say the response has been so strong that they had to stop accepting clothing donations due to limited storage space. Instead, efforts are now focused on packing and shipping items such as hygiene products and medicine. The collected supplies are being boxed and sent to Miami, where a local nonprofit will coordinate delivery to Venezuela.
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"We're just doing as much as we can because we know our government is not helping," Rozza said.
As the relief effort continues, organizers say they are especially in need of children's medicine, vitamins and ibuprofen.
Donations can be dropped off at either of the restaurant's locations in Belmont Cragin or Cicero.
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