Standing outside her casual Venezuelan restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, Kelly Montano held printed photos of her parents while visibly holding back tears.
This is the longest time Montano has gone without contact with his parents: he talks to them “all day, every day” even though they live thousands of miles away, in Venezuela. But after back-to-back magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck 100 miles west of Caracas on June 24, he has been unable to reach them. His response was to quickly convert his downtown Los Angeles restaurant into a donation drop-off location.
Montano's parents, who were vacationing in La Guaira when the earthquakes struck, are among the more than 40,600 people still missing, according to a non-governmental digital database where families can register their missing loved ones. With an initial death toll of 600 that has since risen to an estimated 2,200 as of Wednesday, Montano responded to the news by turning his restaurant into a donation drop-off location.
Volunteers Lia Saba and her daughter Beverly Arbiz, 10, of Grenada Hills, and Alecia Negron, right, of Silver Lake, organize and package the donations.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Montano opened Full Arepas last year as his own “little piece of Venezuela,” a personal tribute to his home country, from thousands of miles away. On Tuesday morning, a dozen volunteers joined Montano on the street outside his restaurant, packing and boxing a host of supplies, from sanitation supplies to non-perishable food items, dropped off by passing vehicles.
“As the hour passes, my hope remains,” Montano said. “I'm going to pray for a miracle.”
The supplies will be brought to Miami and then to Venezuela by Olarte Transport, said volunteer Andrea Casanova, 28, whose grandfather was in Venezuela when the earthquakes hit. The elderly man survived after walking down 13 flights of stairs with an injured leg, Casanova said.
“I think we're all still in shock,” Casanova said. “[I’ve] “I've definitely been going home and crying after hours.”
Los Angeles is home to 6,770 Venezuelans, according to the Los Angeles Almanac. Like Montano and Casanova, many have family and friends in Venezuela who are seriously injured, missing or dead.
In Long Beach, Nova Bakery opened its doors over the weekend and operates as a donation center that accepts sanitary items, first aid supplies and non-perishable food items to be transported by Olarte.
A message is written on a box of donated food at Full Arepas, owned by Kelly Montano, not pictured, whose parents have been missing since the Venezuela earthquake, along with other donations for Venezuelan earthquake victims at the downtown Los Angeles restaurant.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“We are hoping that it will reach the people who have evacuated so we can give them some help, the little children who were left without family, without a home,” said owner Pierina Barboza, who is from Mérida, a city located high in the Andes Mountains in northwest Venezuela. “And what they really need is for everyone to be united, all for the same cause.”
Although the restaurant wrapped up its collections earlier this week, Alviany Dominguez, 53, stopped by Wednesday morning to donate canned food. His family is from Zulia, the most populated state in Venezuela. Domínguez has lived in the United States since 2024.
Photos of the parents of Full Arepas owner Kelly Montano, who have been missing since the earthquakes in Venezuela.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“The damage is enormous, the need for help is there,” Dominguez said. “Even the smallest help we can provide will contribute to everything needed to keep the population alive.”
Barboza said he plans to continue posting on social media to share resources and organize future relief efforts, even if his efforts are a “grain of sand” compared to what his home country may need to overcome the tragedy.
“Without a doubt we will be that help center for those who need it,” said Barboza. “We will be there.”
In Pasadena, Amara Café owner Amara Barroeta pledged to donate 70% of Tuesday's profits to Global Giving, a nonprofit that delivers emergency food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter and life-saving aid in Venezuela. The most popular order during the entire fundraiser was the arepa pabellón, one of the most emblematic arepas of Venezuelan cuisine. In this dish, traditional South American flatbread is typically filled with cheese, black beans, sweet plantains, and shredded beef.
“I guess most of the Venezuelans who came wanted to order items that seemed close to their memories,” Barroeta said.
The restaurant didn't just feed its customers, Barroeta said, it also provided a space for the local Venezuelan community to grieve and find support.
“I feel like people needed a hug,” Barroeta said. “We all needed to talk. There is something very surreal that we Venezuelans feel and that not many people understand.”
As of Wednesday morning, the donation site outside Full Arepas was still receiving a significant amount of goods and Montano's parents remain missing. International rescue teams are actively searching collapsed buildings for more survivors in La Guaira, even as the mission moves toward recovery.
“Today I hope to find them,” Montano said. “I don't know under what conditions, but I'm going to find them.”
