From opposite ends of 14th Street, two Venezuelan businesses quickly activated to send aid to their homeland after the devastating June 24th earthquakes.
Arepazone, the local chain with several established restaurants in the DMV, used its flagship location in downtown DC as a donation collection center. Up the street, in Columbia Heights, the newly opened DC Al Toque also transformed its space into an active donation drop-off point, operating late into the night to take in as many supplies as possible.
Under other circumstances, the two restaurants might compete for the same crowd of Washingtonians seeking authentic Venezuelan cuisine. But in the wake of tragedy, they agreed that each needed to use their platforms to act immediately for their country.
Arepazone: Mobilizing over a decade of service
L: Co-founder Alí Arellano quickly transformed his restaurant, Arepazone, into a donation drop-off point. R: Heyden Santos, a Yaracuy native, came to Arepazone as soon as he heard about the drive. PHOTOS: Fabianna Rincón
Arepazone began serving the DMV's Latino and Venezuelan community in 2014, growing from a single food truck to seven locations across DC, Maryland and Virginia. Its first full storefront, opened in 2017 just steps from Logan Circle, became an emergency donation drive throughout the weekend after the quakes.
Alí Arellano, co-founder of Arepazone, knew the morning after the earthquakes that his business had to move fast to send as much aid as possible to his community. His team mobilized three of its seven branches, each in a different part of the DMV, putting them "at the service of the entire Latino community and of Venezuelans."
One Venezuelan, Heyden Santos, headed to Arepazone shortly after he learned they were collecting supplies. Having arrived from Yaracuy two years ago, Sanderson decided to help his country right away, driven by a deep 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. "Everyone can bring a little grain of joy, a little grain of hope for the people of Venezuela."
Arellano, a Caracas native, spent Thursday 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 said he focused on setting up an emergency drop-off point at Arepazone while anxiously awaiting word on their safety.
"The good news out of all this is that today, at 6 p.m., they got them out of the building and they're fine," Arellano confirmed.
The diaspora finds support at DC Al Toque
L: Salvadoran Oscar Gonzalez drops off donations at DC Al Toque, remembering "we are all human." R: Feeling his "hands were tied," co-founder Jonathan Avendaño turned DC Al Toque into a donation point. PHOTOS: Fabianna Rincón
Jonathan Avendaño co-founded DC Al Toque with his family, though his parents, grandmother and many more of his extended relatives still live in Venezuela. After his relatives there reached out to describe the earthquake's destruction, he said: "What's happening is a catastrophe”.
"Here, I feel like my hands are tied," Avendaño 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."
Only two months after its opening, DC Al Toque wasted no time mobilizing once the emergency hit. It had also quickly established a loyal community of Washingtonians, who filled its Columbia Heights location with much-needed supplies ready to be shipped to Venezuela
Alongside his wife and son, one donor, Oscar Gonzalez, traveled from his home in Germantown to bring supplies to DC Al Toque. Notably, Gonzalez is not part of the Venezuelan diaspora: he is from El Salvador, like the majority of Latino residents in the DMV.
"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."
Activating the community: the situation today
Both the DC Al Toque and Arepazone drop-off centers have maxed out their collection capacity. Trucks loaded with aid from both organizations' 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. They're now calling on residents to volunteer to pack, donate boxes and heavy-duty tape, or contribute money to transport the materials. The latest updates are on their social media: @arepazone or @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."
