For all travelers in and around Santiago, here is an opportunity to help the victims of the Chile earthquake.  Escuela Fronteras, a Spanish language institute based in Santiago is holding a donation drive to collect much-needed supplies for the people hardest hit by the earthquake in Chile this past weekend.

We interviewed Alejandra Vicencio, co-founder of Escuela Fronteras, to find out more about the drive.

1.  What is the latest information that you have about the situation in and around Concepcion?

As far as the news and reports from different people we know, the situation in and around Concepción is pretty bad. The city suffered great damage and most buildings are not to be used. All the small towns near the ocean were wipped off by the tsunami and those further away were destroyed by the earthquake. The Red Cross is trying to collect goods to send there but it is taking some time, so we have decided to help smaller organizations that will send help to small towns like Llico, Duao, etc. sooner. Some people do not have a place to sleep or food to eat, so it is serious.

2.  What are the critical needs of the people affected by the earthquake?

They are in need of shelter more than anything, as it started to rain a little yesterday (Tuesday). We are sending some tents and sleeping bags so they do not freeze at night. They are requesting people to gather food (especially powder milk for kids) and toiletries (mostly toilet paper, soap) and also winter clothes.

3.  Tell me about the donation drive you are sponsoring this week?

We are using the school as a drop-off place for anyone who is interested in donating the items mentioned above. People can take their donations to our school, which will be picked up by people from the company called Ondyne. They will use a big truck to take this donation to a small town near Concepción. One of their staff has family in this small town, who lost everything they had and are starving and freezing at the moment.

4.  What specific items are you asking that people donate?

Toiletries, non-perishable food, warm clothes, tents, sleeping bags, camping stoves, pots and pans

5.  If people cannot donate on Friday, will you still take donations after that?

We are always open to help, and if we cannot take all donations on Saturday to the place, we will still try to do it at a later date. Food and toiletries are basic and run out quickly. Just think of all the things that a normal family would use or consume per day and multiply it by 1,000.

5.  How will you get the donations to the people who need them?

Ondyne has offered to use two big trucks to send the things to the small towns that need them most. One of them will come on Thursday morning, as the need is urgent and people cannot wait, and the other one will come on Saturday morning for the rest of what we have gathered.

6.  How can people get more information about the event and contact you?

• They can join the event on Facebook
• Check out our updates on our website: http://efronteras.com/
• They can send us emails: info @ efronteras.com (remove spaces)
• Call us: +56.2.9189950

Alejandra’s fiance, Paul, was interviewed by the BBC about their personal experience about the earthquake.  Click here to read about their experience.

Tags: Chile

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Jeff's blog, Things to know. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.