Relief groups based in Connecticut and residents with ties to Venezuela are looking for ways to help after deadly earthquakes hit the South American country. Venezuelan Association of Connecticut President Clodomiro Falcón of Stratford said the devastation breaks his heart.

Local Efforts to Aid Venezuela

Speaking in Spanish, Falcón said, “Even though we are very anguished we keep the faith. We are working together on the expectation that this will be overcome.” His own relatives in Venezuela are safe, but he said some of his friends have loved ones who died, while others have had family members who are alive but were trapped in the ruins of a collapsed building.

The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes that struck late Wednesday killed at least 589 people and left thousands injured. Falcón said he has felt a tightness in his chest since he found out about the earthquakes. The impact of the disaster is too big, he said, and it is literally impossible not to feel distressed.

Stamford-based Americares said in a statement on Thursday the nonprofit is mobilizing emergency medical aid. The organization said it’s preparing shipments of medicines, medical supplies, water purification materials and hygiene kits as rescuers continue searching for survivors.

Fatima Andraca, the Venezuela Country Director at Save the Children, was on the twelfth floor of a hotel when the earthquakes struck. “The building where I was, it’s an old structured building, so [the earthquakes] felt quite strong,” Andraca said. “I managed to evacuate via the stairs, the outside stairs because the inside stairs were really damaged.”

To learn more about groups working to organize aid efforts in Venezuela and ways to get involved, visit the websites of these organizations.

Original reporting: The Connecticut Mirror — read the source article.