D.C. restaurants mobilized to aid Venezuela after devastating earthquakes

From opposite ends of 14th Street, two Venezuelan eateries jumped to help their home country following last week's devastating earthquakes.

Arepazone, which grew from a food truck in 2014 to seven stores across the region, turned its downtown D.C. location into a donation center, accepting medications like Albuterol and emergency supplies like water purification tablets. Up the street in Columbia Heights, the newly opened restaurant and bakery DC Al Toque worked late into the nights following the disaster to collect as many supplies as possible, including diapers and formula.

The death toll from the country's rare double earthquake climbed to 2,295 on Wednesday but tens of thousands are still unaccounted for, and hopes for additional rescues from the rubble are now slim. Millions more are likely to be impacted by the disaster, requiring housing, healthcare, and emergency food and water in the weeks to come.

Under other circumstances, the two restaurants might compete for the same crowd of Washingtonians seeking authentic Venezuelan cuisine. But in the wake of the tragedy, they used their social media platforms to boost each other's efforts, aiming to reach as many people as possible.

Arepazone's co-founder Alí Arellano knew the morning after the earthquakes that his business had to move fast. His team mobilized three of its seven branches, each in a different part of the D.C. region, putting them "at the service of the entire Latino community, and of Venezuelans."

A Caracas native, Arellano was grappling with the heartbreaking news that several relatives were trapped under the rubble of their building in the heavily hit city of La Guaira. "With a heavy heart," he focused on setting up an emergency drop-off point at Arepazone, while anxiously awaiting word on their safety.

Heyden Santos headed to Arepazone shortly after he learned they were collecting supplies. Having arrived two years ago from the state of Yaracuy, Santos was driven by a sense of purpose "as a Venezuelan, and as a human being.”

"There's a satisfaction above all else, after so much crying, after feeling so uncomfortable just watching the news with your arms crossed," said Santos, who dropped off diapers, soap, and children's socks. "Everyone can bring a little grain of joy, a little grain of hope for the people of Venezuela."

By the end of the day on Thursday, Arellano was relieved to find out that his relatives had escaped their building, and are doing okay.

DC Al Toque has only been open for two months, but they've already established a loyal community of Washingtonians, many of whom filled its Columbia Heights location with much-needed supplies ready to be shipped to Venezuela.

"What's happening is a catastrophe," said co-founder Jonathan Avendaño, whose says his parents, grandmother, and many more of his extended relatives still live in Venezuela.

"Here, I feel like my hands are tied," he said. "Right now I'd want to be in Venezuela, to go to Caracas and lift rubble with my own hands. To help people and feel useful, for my country, for my community, for my people."

Oscar Gonzalez traveled from his home in Germantown with his wife and son to bring supplies to DC Al Toque. Gonzalez isn't Venezuelan — like the majority of Latino residents in the D.C.-area, he's from El Salvador.

"Remember that here, the flag doesn't matter, race doesn't matter, color doesn't matter. We're all human," González said. "So I hope more people join in."

Both the DC Al Toque and Arepazone drop-off centers have maxed out their collection capacity. Trucks loaded with aid from both groups' efforts are now joining the national effort to reach Venezuela's hardest-hit areas as fast as possible.

Though they're no longer taking physical donations, both organizations are still asking their communities for support and seeking volunteers to pack supplies, donate boxes and heavy-duty tape, or contribute money to transport the materials. The latest updates are on their social media: @arepazone and @dcaltoque.

For Avendaño, the hard work of operating as a collection center is his way of "accepting reality in the best way possible." From the first day of activation, the co-founder emphasized the importance of processing the grief of the catastrophe while finding the strength to carry on.

"Doing this work is the least we can do from here," Avendaño said. "We're going to help the best way we can, which is by getting the word out to people so they pitch in like we have."