A Boston-based relief fund has committed its first $192,500 toward rebuilding schools and health care services in Venezuela, months after back-to-back earthquakes killed more than 6,500 people and left thousands of buildings damaged across the country's north-central region. The Massachusetts United for Venezuela Fund announced the recipients of its first round of aid this week, directing money toward food relief, mental health support, prosthetic rehabilitation, and school reconstruction.
The grants include support for school reconstruction, according to The Boston Globe. Food relief is among the fund's priorities, while another $25,000 will fund mental health support for residents of Caracas and La Guaira, two of the regions hit hardest by the June quakes.
The fund also lists health services among its priorities. Altogether, the fund has committed to funding health services, community organizations, and education efforts.
How the Fund Chose Where the Money Goes
The Boston Foundation's Latino Equity Fund described the effort's partnerships and goals, the Globe reported. Zamawa Arenas was identified as a co-chair of the Latino Equity Fund.
The fund itself was created through The Boston Foundation's Latino Equity Fund, which launched the Massachusetts United for Venezuela Fund on June 28 with $100,000 in seed commitments, modeling the effort on past statewide disaster responses like Massachusetts's fundraising for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, according to The Boston Foundation. The Latino Equity Fund, led by Executive Director Javier Juarez, is the first Latino-focused philanthropic fund in Massachusetts.
The fund's priorities include food aid, mental health support, community infrastructure, and health services.
The Scale of the Disaster Behind the Fundraising
The earthquakes that prompted this response struck on June 24, when a 7.2 magnitude foreshock near Veroes hit at 6:04 p.m. local time, followed 30 seconds later by a 7.5 magnitude mainshock off La Guaira along the San Sebastián fault system, according to Wikipedia. As of August, post-disaster assessments recorded more than 226,700 people injured or hospitalized and nearly 18,000 left homeless, alongside the 6,500 confirmed deaths, with tens of thousands still missing under the rubble.
Recovery efforts continued after the disaster. The United Nations has estimated direct structural and economic damage from the disaster at $6.7 billion — equal to roughly 6 percent of Venezuela's annual GDP — with regional emergency reports indicating that 80 percent of buildings collapsed in La Guaira, the hardest-hit coastal state, per The Boston Foundation.
Boston's Venezuelan Community Mobilizes at Home
Local Venezuelan advocates channeled that grief into grassroots action just days after the quakes. On July 5, organizers held “50K Venezuela,” a 31-mile solidarity run and bike ride from Beverly to Fenway Park in Boston, choosing the distance to symbolize Venezuela's 31 million citizens, according to the Venezuelan Association in Massachusetts. Two days later, on July 7, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Latino Equity Fund leaders attended the city's annual Venezuelan Independence Day flag-raising ceremony at City Hall Plaza, where speakers mourned earthquake victims and discussed aid, as reported by GBH News.
Massachusetts community support has accompanied the recovery effort. Local Venezuelan advocates have also continued community work at home alongside earthquake-recovery efforts abroad.
That dual track continued in August, with the recovery effort abroad alongside local community work in Massachusetts.
