Utah's Colombian community seeking donations to help Colombian quake victims

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Members of the Colombian community in Utah have launched a fundraising drive to aid earthquake victims in Colombia.
The 7.4-magnitude quake in the Chocó region has left more than 250 dead and widespread destruction.
Donations are directed to the Colombian Red Cross to ensure timely assistance.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah may now be home for thousands of expatriate Colombians and others of Colombian descent.

But those in the community still feel a strong connection to the country and have launched a fundraising drive to help their compatriots affected by the powerful earthquake that shook Colombia on Monday.

"We're all Colombians after all, and we have people we know who are affected, and from here it's a little easier to support and help them," said Steven Rodriguez, who's helping lead the effort with others in the Colombian community. Colombians in Utah have "more economic stability" and wherewithal to help.

He and others from the community, including representatives from Colombianos en Utah, a cultural group, gathered Monday at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City to organize the effort and film promotional videos to drum up interest in the cause. They're working with the Colombian Red Cross and asking those willing to help to contribute to the organization through a website created specifically to accept donations from Utahns.

Residents search for survivors in the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, on Monday. (Photo: Santiago Saldarriaga, AP)

"Many people have been left without a home. There's no electricity, no water. It's been devastation and that's why we want to help," Rodriguez said.

The 7.4-magnitude temblor was centered in the Chocó region on the Pacific coast in western Colombia and had left around 254 people dead as of Tuesday morning and destroyed apartment buildings, schools and more, according to Reuters. Nearly 100 aftershocks had been registered as of Tuesday morning.

Members of the Venezuelan community in Utah collected aid here last month to help those impacted by a series of devastating earthquakes in Venezuela in late June. Getting the aid to Venezuela proved costly and complicated, and, heeding advice from those in the Venezuelan community here, the Colombian contingent is asking that monetary donations be sent to the Colombian Red Cross instead.

"Help is needed now. If we send things, they'll arrive in a month, two months," said Johanna Moreno, a leader in Colombianos en Utah.

Jonatan Fonseca, also with Colombianos en Utah, hopes the donations from Utah send a message to those impacted by the earthquakes that they have support here in the United States. "Even if we're far away, we're still Colombians," he said.

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