SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Latinas Run Club used their Sunday meetup to raise money and supplies to help people trying to survive in Venezuela after two catastrophic earthquakes hit the country.
“I have a lot of friends who are from Venezuela, so I felt connected, and I felt like we needed to do something,” Latinas Run Club founder Noemi Ottenwalder said.
Ottenwalder said she founded the club as a safe space for Latina women to come together and make friends through fitness.
“When something like that is happening in Venezuela, we can do more than just running,” she said.
Ottenwalder said Venezuelan women make up the majority of their group, and with Sunday’s run lining up with Venezuela’s Independence Day, she said the Hispanic community rallied behind the cause.
“Venezuela has been through a lot, so seeing the Hispanic community come together has been giving me high hopes because we feel like we’re on our own,” volunteer Claudia Abonte said.
Abonte was born in Venezuela. She said life there after the earthquakes has been a fight for basic survival without much government help.
She says the community there and across the border lines has been picking up the slack.
“We have a place in everyone’s hearts, and we can see everyone’s kindness through all the donations and all the words and all the prayers that they’ve given to us so far,” Abonte said.
Through the run, their club was able to raise close to $4,000, through raffles and donations, which they say they’ll use to send supplies down to the country.
“This is what the world should be,” said Alex Khianthalat, a runner. “We should all support each other. We should all come together whenever we need to be together.”
Latinas Run Club meets every Sunday. They are continuing to accept donations after their run.
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