Standing With Colombia After the August 10 Earthquake
- Andrea Ortega
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Our founder, Dr. Andrea Ortega, and her family are from Colombia, and most of them still live there. It is with great sadness that we write this post. But one of the best ways Palante can make a difference right now is through the work we do.
What happened
On Monday, August 10, at 7:34 AM local time, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia. It is the strongest earthquake the country has recorded in decades. The hardest hit cities include Cali, Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, and Armenia.
More than 130 people have died, and the number is still rising. Hundreds more are injured. Thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed, along with schools and health centers. Rescue teams are still searching through the rubble.
You can learn more about our work here: https://www.palantenonprofits.com/colombia
The New York Times is also running a live update page: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/08/10/world/colombia-earthquake-bogota-cali
Our founder's family
Dr. Ortega's family is safe. Some of their homes were damaged, but everyone made it through. We are grateful for that. At the same time, we know many other families were not as fortunate, especially in the more vulnerable areas.
How Palante is helping
We are working with La Familia Foundation to help raise money for medical care for earthquake victims. You can donate to their fund here: Relief for Colombia.
Here in Central Florida, we are working with a few partners:
By Their Fruits Foundation, an Orlando based nonprofit that already sends food every month to Venezuela. They are now helping coordinate support for Colombia too. If you're in Florida, this is a good organization to know. Note their website still centers on Venezuela, so check with them directly for the latest on their Colombia effort.
State Representative Dr. Anna Eskamani, who represents part of Orange County, is serving as a drop off site for supplies. We are coordinating with her office to get donated items to Colombia.
Alianza Center, based in Orlando, serves Hispanic and Puerto Rican communities across 12 Central Florida counties. They ran a well organized donation drive for the Venezuela earthquakes back in June, collecting hundreds of boxes of supplies with help from local high school and college students. We could not confirm their specific Colombia plans yet, so check their page directly for current details.
CFS Coffee, together with Gonzalo Vivanco, an Orlando based business and hospitality figure. We were not able to confirm the specifics of what they are doing for this response, so check their Instagram post directly.
More organizations to know
A few more groups in Colombia worth following and supporting right now:
Patrulla Aérea Civil Colombiana, based in Bogotá. For 58 years they have flown volunteer doctors on small planes to remote parts of Colombia to run free medical and surgical clinics. Rural areas like Chocó, where this earthquake hit hardest, are exactly where they work.
Abaco Colombia is ABACO, the Association of Food Banks of Colombia, a national food bank network. Colombian news outlets have named ABACO as one of the official channels already open to receive donations for earthquake victims, alongside the Colombian Red Cross.
Doco Kids, known as Docokids, is a Colombian healthtech company backed by UNICEF's Venture Fund. They give free pediatric medical guidance to families over WhatsApp and other messaging apps, already reaching all 29 departments of Colombia. That kind of remote reach could matter a lot for families in areas doctors cannot easily get to right now. We could not confirm an earthquake specific statement from them yet.
Fundación Color y Esperanza is based in Unguía, in the Chocó department, which is where this earthquake's epicenter was located. They normally run programs and a community space called Casa de Colores for children and teens in the area. Given their location, they are likely to be directly affected themselves, so check their page for their current needs.
Colombian Red Cross is one of the lead organizations in the national response. They are running search and rescue operations, coordinating donation collection points such as one at the Palacio de los Deportes in Bogotá, and can be reached through Colombia's emergency line 132.
How you can help
If you know of other organizations doing this work, we would love to highlight them. Reply to this post or reach out to us directly and we'll add them to the list.
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