NewsPalm Beach CountyRegion C Palm Beach CountyLake Worth Beach

Actions

Guatemalan-Maya center preparing to send aid to victims of volcano eruption

Posted at 7:11 PM, Jun 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-05 04:27:01-04

The images showing the bright orange lava that lit up the night sky in Guatemala are startling. At least 62 people are dead and nearly 300 injured in the most violent eruption of Guatemala's Fuego volcano in more than four decades.

A local organization is beginning the conversation on how to help the survivors and if any should come to South Florida. The Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth says its main focus right now is informing their clientele who simply may not know about the devastation because of communication barriers.

The next step is to help them make contact with any family who might be impacted.

The center says it’s already preparing to begin gathering donations, starting with the basic needs like food, water and clothing.

At this point they are in a holding pattern waiting for direction on what exactly people need, how much and how its going to be delivered.

One of the center’s outreach specialists, Daniel Morgan, says there were a lot of lessons learned after Hurricane Maria.

"From looking back on the response to Puerto Rico, we saw that a lot of resources were sent but couldn't be distributed to the people who needed it,” said Morgan.

“So we wanted to wait until there’s a plan in place or until the government or organizations help say yes now were ready send us this amount.”

Because of the devastation, Morgan says he does expect more families to take refuge in the United States.

If you are interested in helping with the aid effort you can visit http://www.guatemalanmaya.org/ for more information.