AN Islander’s fundraising drive continues to support Venezuela in the wake of the earthquake that devastated his home country over a month ago now.
Mariano Antonio Ferreira Correia’s 36-year-old brother Javier, a former Jersey café worker, was among those killed on Wednesday 24 June, while members of his family lost their homes.
Since then, Mr Correia has been accepting donations of clothes at his barbershop in St Helier, before selling them in a pay-what-you-can sale held last Saturday, which raised thousands of pounds.
Channeling his grief, Mr Correia has managed to raise a total of £13,000. The funds have been used to buy food and other supplies for Venezuelans still recovering from the largest earthquake in its history.
Mr Correia, who is originally from La Guaira – one of the worst hit parts of the country – said that the support he has received for Jersey has been “amazing”. Alongside the sale of the donated items, Mr Correira also started an online fundraiser which raised $5,000 – approximately £4,400 – within a week.
More than two tonnes of supplies have been delivered from Jersey, with DFDS waiving any shipping fees to deliver aid.
Mr Correia continues to fundraise with the help of the “very large” Venezuelan community on the Island and said he had been encouraged by Jersey Overseas Aid committing to provide £250,000 of humanitarian aid to his home country. Despite this, he said that things in Venezuela are “not getting better” with the country struggling to recover.
The twin earthquakes were the most devastating natural disaster in Venezuela’s history, with 5,500 people confirmed to have died, while the British Red Cross estimate that 9.7 million people have been affected in some way.
