Arizona aids Mexico by air
Goods shipped to earthquake victims
In 1985, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico City, killing thousands and causing widespread damage throughout the capital.
Juan and Betty Rodriguez, university students at the time, witnessed the devastation close up.
When a series of earthquakes again slammed Mexico City and nearby areas earlier this month, the Rodriguezes were far from the destruction in their Phoenix home.
But as they watched footage of buildings crumbling and first responders at-
tempting to pull people from the rubble, they relived horrific memories of what they’d seen 32 years earlier.
“We wanted to help in some way, even if our families in Mexico are okay,” 56year-old Betty Rodriguez said in Spanish on Sunday, before she helped pack a Boeing 737 full of donations at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
About 40 volunteers transferred items — including diapers, personal-hygiene products and medication — from donation pallets onto the plane headed for Mexico City.
Juan Rodriguez, 55, said he clearly remembered what it felt like to survive a traumatic natural disaster.
“Every person that is going through this tough situation is what is hurting us,” Betty Rodriguez said.
‘They are our neighbors’
Three earthquakes hit Mexico this month, killing hundreds and leaving thousands homeless.
The most devastating was a 7.1-magnitude quake that struck Tuesday.
The disasters came during a time of strained Mexico-U.S. relations, heightened by President Donald Trump’s insistence on building a wall along the countries’ shared border. But for Sunday’s volunteers, the need to help those suffering overshadowed the rhetoric.
“I think most of that tension is driven out of (Washington), D.C,” said Marco Lopez with the Carlos Slim Foundation, one of the organizations that coordinated Sunday’s efforts. “On the ground, people recognize they are our neighbors. And in a time of need, no matter who your neighbor is, you step up and you help.”
JP Dahdah, founder and executive director of non-profit Advance Guatemala, said that “when unexpected things happen and people are suffering, I think the outpouring of support and the desire to help those in need has no connection with the political climate.
“We are human beings at the end of the day,” Dahdah said.
‘Really hard and sad’
The donation effort came together quickly, according to representatives from various groups involved.
Luis Borbon, vice president of Mexican business development at Intermestic Partners, contacted the Carlos Slim Foundation last week to discuss which supplies Mexico City residents lacked.
The foundation, along with Plaza Companies, determined they needed donations from Arizona hospitals, a fleet of trucks to transport the supplies within the state and a plane to get the donations from Arizona to Mexico City.
“(Our team) jumped in and pulled the product within eight hours in order to get the product ready in time for the trip down to Mexico,” said Tim Miller, supply-chain vice president at Honor Health. “They really did a great job.”
St. Vincent de Paul handled the trucking, and Swift Aviation provided the plane. Other participants included Project C.U.R.E., Dignity Health, Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the Maricopa Integrated Health System.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to get the supplies there,” said Borbon, who arrived in Arizona from Mexico City on Thursday. “The situation is really hard and sad.”