Two Vienna-based nonprofits are coming together to support victims of the twin earthquakes that left thousands dead and injured in Venezuela last week.
The One Neighborhood Foundation and People and Pets Together will host a fundraiser Saturday (July 4) from 8 a.m. to noon at Texas Donuts (167 Glyndon Street SE). A portion of every purchase will be donated to World Central Kitchen, the disaster relief nonprofit founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.
Free face painting will also be available for children.
“We’re praying for all the families and all the people who are affected by this disaster that’s occurred right now,” said Lydia Russo, founder of One Neighborhood Foundation. “We have many beloved volunteer firefighters who are part of the Virginia task force in Venezuela, to whom I’m close with, who are there volunteering their time to find people, and they’re in the affected areas, searching. We want to do all we can to help the people and show our support from the town of Vienna.”
Around 50,000 people have still not been accounted for in the wake of the magnitude-7.2 and 7.5 quakes that toppled nearly 800 buildings in Caracas and La Guaira on June 24, according to the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization that has worked in Venezuela since 2021.
The devastation comes after years of the nation struggling with blackouts, hospitals left without basic needs, and the world’s highest inflation rate.
While One Neighborhood and People and Pets often focus on more local issues, their founders felt drawn to help.
Russo was traveling in Florida on June 27 when her Lyft driver, who was Venezuelan, shared that members of his family were still missing. Later that day, she watched a video of Fairfax County’s Urban Search and Rescue Team — also known as Virginia Task Force 1 — rescuing a mother and her baby from the rubble of a collapsed building.
The same afternoon, People and Pets founder Diana Hernandez, who also runs a Spanish immersion program professionally, sent Russo a message asking if the two nonprofits could collaborate on a fundraiser. It felt like “a calling,” Russo said, something that the two “needed to do.”
Opened in Vienna on Dec. 3, Texas Donuts regularly supports the One Neighborhood Foundation, both through fundraisers and with proceeds from the sale of a green-frosted donut, so the business was a natural partner to raise the funds, Russo said.
The Vienna community has already stepped up to help: as of Tuesday evening (June 30), the nonprofits had already collected about $750 in donations, Russo said.
“I’m always shocked by the Vienna community,” Russo said. “They always pull through. They always show their love.”
