La Guaira in ruins as Venezuela quake deaths rise

In times of extreme distress, as seen in the widespread devastation of this week's Venezuela earthquakes, it's natural to ask, "What can I do to help?"

And even from hundreds of miles away, there are some ways that ordinary people can help the victims of this deadly disaster. If you feel compelled to give, here are some tips and places you could send your resources to help those who are surviving the catastrophe.

• International Red Cross: Despite experiencing damage to its own national headquarters, the Venezuelan Red Cross' nationwide network of hospitals and clinics remains active and continues to deliver care, and rescue teams are supporting evacuation and search efforts as well as mobilizing prepositioned relief supplies. Red Cross Societies in Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Argentina — countries home to large Venezuelan communities — have activated services to restore family links and help people find news of their loved ones.

• Global Empowerment Mission: The Doral, Florida-based humanitarian relief organization is collaborating with its long-term nonprofit partner the We Love Foundation. GEM immediately began packing food, water, hygiene supplies, medical necessities and other emergency relief items for shipment Thursday to Caracas, where it has set up a distribution hub. GEM has responded in Venezuela before, including in 2018 and 2019.
• CORE: The humanitarian nonprofit is deploying personnel and partnering with The Wayuu Taya Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Indigenous Wayuu communities in Venezuela and Colombia and who have staff on the ground in Caracas. They aim to distribute cash support to impacted families as well as food, drinking water, hygiene kits and other critical resources. CORE was founded after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
• Direct Relief: The California-based medical humanitarian organization is funding the deployment of a team from Spanish Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras (BUSF) to assist search-and-rescue efforts, and is poised to send medical supplies to local healthcare partners as needed. Direct Relief has responded to multiple earthquakes, including the 2023 disaster in Syria and Turkey.

• Airlink: The global humanitarian organization helps facilitate transport and logistics for other nonprofits needing to send relief and personnel to disasters worldwide. It will mobilize airlines and logistics companies to send search-and-rescue teams, medical responders and aid like medicines, water filters and food to Venezuela.
• World Central Kitchen: The nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés is mobilizing to serve hot meals to affected families and first responders as quickly as possible. WCK has led multiple responses in Venezuela, most recently in 2024 when families in the state of Sucre were displaced by Hurricane Beryl.
• Catholic Relief Services: The international aid agency of the U.S. Catholic Church is working with local partner Caritas Venezuela to deliver emergency shelter, food, water and medical care to impacted families.
• Global Impact: The philanthropy adviser and intermediary has set up a Venezuela Earthquakes Response fund that will funnel aid to multiple vetted organizations, including UNICEF USA and Save the Children.

The nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator recommends donors avoid fraudulent fundraising campaigns by assessing whether an organization has a history of working on the specific type of disaster and in the affected region, and if it is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Charity Navigator has also published its own list of vetted groups aiding Venezuela.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.