Doral came together for Venezuela: a humanitarian drive powered by community

Cartons of donated goods at the Doral collection hub on February 16, 2019.

Donations collected at the Doral hub on February 16, 2019.

The initiative

Collection day: February 16, 2019
Collection point: La Ceiba Tire Shop, Doral
Requested supplies: Nonperishable food, medical supplies and essentials
Community response: Residents, volunteers and public figures

DORAL, FLORIDA — February 16, 2019. Donations arrived in boxes. Volunteers made room for the next delivery. Families, artists and neighbors joined a practical appeal with a clear destination: people in Venezuela facing an extended humanitarian and health crisis. Fundación Corazones por la Vida turned La Ceiba Tire Shop into a collection point for nonperishable food, medical supplies and other essential goods.

A community responds

The drive asked people in South Florida to contribute what they could carry, collect or help organize. Its strength came from those small decisions multiplied across the community: a family dropping off a box, a volunteer receiving it, and supporters using their voices to keep the appeal visible. The foundation records the participation of hundreds of residents and the support of more than 30 artists, athletes, influencers and community leaders.

Among the public figures the foundation credits with amplifying the initiative were Gianluca Vacchi, Sharon Fonseca, Franklin Virgüez, Maffio, El Markiman and Juan Carlos Luces. The effort was led by the foundation, which was founded by Venezuelan artist Román EL RO.

Foundation volunteers and community members gathered at the collection point in Doral. — The team gathered inside the collection point on February 16.

Volunteers standing near a Venezuelan flag outside the Doral collection point. — Community members outside the donation hub on February 16.

Why these supplies mattered

By early 2019, Venezuelans had lived for years with severe pressure on household purchasing power and access to medical care. For families and health workers struggling to find basic provisions, the appeal focused on tangible items: food with a practical shelf life, medical supplies and goods that could be handled and distributed through a humanitarian network. The organizers framed the collection as support for hospitals and communities in Venezuela.

The February drive should be understood in the context of that wider, ongoing crisis.

Stacks of donated boxes awaiting sorting at La Ceiba Tire Shop in Doral. — Boxes of supplies accumulated during the February drive.

A diverse group of supporters posing together at the Doral donation drive. — Supporters helped amplify the drive in Doral.

From a donation hub to a logistics operation

La Ceiba Tire Shop served as the starting point. The foundation credits Cargo Elite with logistical support and with transporting humanitarian containers toward Venezuela. Subsequent photographs in the archive, dated March 18 and March 23, show volunteers, boxed goods and palletized supplies in a warehouse. They document later handling and preparation, a further chapter of the same undertaking.

According to the foundation’s own account, the initiative was intended to support hospitals and recipients in Caracas and Puerto Ordaz, with local coordination for distribution.

Volunteer among boxes at a logistics warehouse on March 23, 2019. — A March 23 photograph documents a later warehouse stage.

Volunteers checking and sorting cartons at the warehouse on March 18, 2019. — Volunteers sort goods during the later March logistics stage.

The people behind the boxes

What made the Doral appeal possible was a chain of participation. Public figures could draw attention; neighbors could answer the call; volunteers could receive and organize donations; and logistics partners could help carry the work forward. The result, as the foundation’s own event record describes it, was a collective response to needs that could not be met by a single person or a single day.

For Fundación Corazones por la Vida, the 2019 drive is part of a larger commitment to connect people willing to help with communities facing urgent needs. The photographs preserve that work in stages: the faces at the collection point in February, followed by the hands and warehouse shelves of March. Together they tell a story of solidarity made practical.

Supporters outside the collection point during the February 2019 Doral drive. — The humanitarian appeal brought together people from the local community.

Food packages photographed among the collected provisions in a March 2019 warehouse. — A later photograph shows provisions awaiting handling on March 23.

Photo record · March 2019 logistics

After the collection day

These images were taken during the later handling of collected supplies. They are dated March 18 or March 23 in the source photographs.