A 7.8 earthquake shook the coast of Ecuador on Saturday, leaving nearly 300 people dead and hundreds more wounded in one of the strongest quakes in decades to strike this country perched on the northwestern shoulder of South America.
Hundreds of miles inland, the Jewish community has galvanized efforts to send much-needed supplies to thousands of people who lost everything in the course of minutes.
“We immediately went to the grocery and began buying foodstuffs to send,” says Rabbi Uriel Tawil, director of Chabad of Ecuador, who serves the nation’s Jewish community of approximately 1,000 people. “Even though it is far from where the Jewish people live in Guayaquil—and far from where a Jewish tourist may even visit—we know that it is at times like these where everyone must do whatever he or she can to help others in dire need.”
While the initial food donations were placed on government trucks to be transported and delivered, Tawil says he plans on taking several truckloads of food, mattresses and other key staples to those in need on behalf of the Jewish community.
The rabbi plans to travel to the hardest-hit area, together with donors, to distribute the items themselves.
“There is a lot of looting right now,” reports Tawil, who has called Guayaquil home for four years, “so we are in close coordination with the military to determine when will be the best time for us to bring our supplies, ensuring that they will get to the people who need them safely and securely.”
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