GASTONIA, N.C. — Relief efforts locally are growing as Colombia recovers from a devastating 7.4 earthquake Monday, killing at least 181 people.
The efforts are widespread, reaching the WOW Supermarket in Gastonia. On Tuesday, the store put up a Colombian flag over a bin to collect items for people in South America, including the family of Charlotte City Councilmember JD Mazuera Arias.
Channel 9’s Ken Lemon spoke with Arias, who said his heart is in his hometown of Pereira, Colombia, which was at the epicenter of the catastrophic earthquake.
“Seeing buildings collapse, people screaming, yelling, and crying, looking for their loved ones,” Arias said. Those people are his family, including his sister who grew up with him in east Charlotte. She is visiting family in Colombia and planned to spend the night with her aunt and would have been there the morning their aunt’s home collapsed.
“I wouldn’t know what I would have done, if my sister was in that home when it collapsed,” Arias said. He is still waiting for an update from his family. Phone lines have been down since they spoke just minutes after the earthquake.
“It was emotional,” Arias said. “They were crying. They were scared.”
Manolo’s Bakery owner Manolo Betancur said his family is safe, but his home country needs him.
“Now more than ever,” Bentancur said, “Now more than ever.” Bentancur now plans to go to Colombia after his friends sent him video of the devastation.
“I’m going there in 10 days,” Bentancur said. He’s collecting donations through his non-profit group called By Immigrant Hands to give to others.
“I can go straight to the baker,” Bentancur said. “Straight to the farmer, straight to the person who lost everything.”
Volunteers for the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce paused to pray on Tuesday before filling up a storage space with items to go to people in need.
Councilman Arias said his sister is supposed to come home Friday and that he is praying she will make that flight.