Cary church leads donation drive for Venezuela earthquake relief

Christ the King Lutheran Church in Cary is accepting donations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. throughout the week, giving Wake County residents with Venezuelan ties a local place to respond after the earthquakes that devastated the country.

For many Venezuelans living in North Carolina, the disaster is deeply personal. The Cary church has become part of that response, turning concern in the Triangle into a concrete relief pipeline for families trying to reach relatives, friends and communities hit by the destruction.

The earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening, and the toll has kept climbing. The latest ABC11 update put the death toll at at least 920 dead and 3,360 injured. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Venezuela’s government declared a state of emergency and requested international assistance, while its emergency page listed 1,430 deaths, 3,360 injured, 9.73 million affected people and 530,000 people in need.

The U.S. Geological Survey identified the June 24, 2026 quake as a shallow strike-slip event near the Caribbean-South American plate boundary, about 28 kilometers southeast of Yumare. The agency said the Caribbean plate moves eastward relative to South America at about 20 millimeters a year, and noted there had been only seven magnitude 6 or larger earthquakes within 250 kilometers of the epicenters in the previous century. Its June 28 aftershock forecast gave a 48 percent chance of at least one magnitude 5 or larger aftershock in the next week and a 99 percent chance of at least one magnitude 4 or larger aftershock.

The Cary drive is part of a wider Triangle response. Relief collections were also underway in Raleigh, Fayetteville and surrounding communities, including RicArepas in Fayetteville, El Mandado Supermarket on East Millbrook Road, D’Lujo Grill in Raleigh and Casa Venezuela North Carolina.