AZ Businesses Continue To Collect, Donate For Mexico Earthquake

By Jorge Valencia
October 02, 2017

Arizona businesses and individuals are continuing to donate toward relief for the earthquake that struck central Mexico last month.

Chicanos Por La Causa, the Phoenix-based nonprofit, has sent a range of needed materials, still focusing on emergency needs in the first two weeks since the Sept. 19 earthquake that killed more than 300 people, spokeswoman Maria Jesus Cervantes said. They plan to send a shipment by the end of this week to help more displaced people with items such as diapers and canned food.

Chicanos Por La Causa is delivering the materials with the help of the state of Sonora’s family development agency (DIF, for its initials in Spanish) and the Mexican Olympic Committee, said Emilio Gaynor, international development director for the nonprofit. The organization is collecting items depending on needs outlined by the Mexican Red Cross and is prioritizing underserved areas near Mexico City.

"The need that comes when we see these tragedies knows no boundaries, no distinction between one country and the other,” Cervantes said. “We're all the same region. We're a human race that wants to help each other."