An Afternoon of Earthquake Relief for Venezuela and Colombia

The setup was simple: tables, boxes, tape and a line of people moving supplies from one end of a warehouse to the other. Sports Performance Hub team members joined players and staff from Miami FC, the professional club within the SPH ecosystem, working alongside volunteers who'd been at it for weeks before they got there and kept going after they left.

The earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, and the one that followed in Colombia in August, displaced families and cut communities off from the basics: food, clean water, hygiene supplies, shelter and medical care. Global Empowerment Mission, the South Florida-based disaster relief organization, has been moving aid into both countries and coordinating delivery on the ground. In Venezuela, it works with We Love Foundation, which has supported Venezuelan families and communities since 2013. The foundation gets that aid to trusted local organizations and volunteers who know where it's needed most.

SPH contributed to that work, and the plan always included volunteering in person too. That's what September 3 was.

For three hours, the group packed and prepared aid for affected communities. They got a close look at what goes into each box and why, and at how many hands it takes to get a pallet of supplies from a warehouse in South Florida to a family that lost their home.

South Florida has large Venezuelan and Colombian communities, and for a lot of families here, these earthquakes hit close to home. Community is one of the six pillars of SPH, and the model is designed around developing each athlete as a whole person. That includes what they do for others when they're not competing.

Relief work in both countries is far from over, and it's going to take a lot more than one afternoon. If you'd like to help, both Global Empowerment Mission and We Love Foundation accept donations and volunteers. Spreading the word helps, too.