NEW YORK, NY -- After the devastating earthquake that killed 650 people in Ecuador, community organizers in New York City have sent over 9.5 tons of dry food, medicine and water to help provide relief.
Over 40 dedicated volunteers with the Adventist Community Services of Queens Spanish, which is based in Corona, Queens, have organized the community to donate and help box supplies to send to Ecuador.
Aurora Morales Gil, the director of Adventist Community Services of Queens Spanish, said the relief efforts have been so successful the Ecuadorian consulate has requested people in the tri-state area — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — to stop sending cases of water.
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"Tuesday the Ecuador Consulate stopped accepting water donations, and added over–the-counter medications to the list," Morales Gil said. "Right away the community started to bring a lot of donations. The response has been generous and helpful with Ecuador relief."
So far the group alone has collected six tons of food, one ton of dry pet food and over 600 cases of water. Morales Gil said the group has packed and weighed so many boxes that they have exhausted and broken three home scales.
Morales Gil said because students are on break from school, parents have brought them to help pack supplies into 50-pound boxes to ship to Ecuador. Morales Gil, who is Mexican, said she feels strong solidarity with Ecuadorian community after the disaster, and she said she is proud of the way the community has rallied, especially this week.
"What is relevant is that when we help each other and that we become one in the community," Morales Gil said.
To find where you can donate supplies to send to Ecuador, see the Facebook page for the Ecuador Consulate in New York.
