Fundraiser to help earthquake victims

Local residents hope to raise money to help children affected by severe earthquakes in Mexico last year.

The Mexican Earthquake Relief Committee formed in Lorain will present “An Evening at the Races” fundraiser in South Lorain on Jan. 27.

Last year, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck Mexico on Sept. 7; 12 days later, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit. The main states affected were Oaxaca, Chiapas, Mexico City, Puebla and Morelos, according to a UNICEF report on the damage.

The international relief agency estimated there were 16,000 damaged schools and up to 4 million students were to be relocated in other schools, according to the report, updated as of Dec. 19, 2017.

“Where are these kids being placed?” said Guillermo Arriaga, committee member and president of the Museum of Hispanic & Latino Cultures.

The committee’s goal is to help school repairs and to replace books and supplies that were lost and destroyed.

“Our purpose is to help the kids,” said committee member Eileen Torres.

Young people may not have been hurt in the quakes, but the events still may be traumatic for them, Torres said.

Getting young people back to school, seeing their friends and sharing lunch together is a way for the students to return to a sense of normalcy, they said.

Last year, many people focused on relief for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico, and deservedly so, the committee members said. But the Mexican people, especially the children, also need help, they said.

Overall reconstruction in Mexico could reach an estimated $2.5 billion, according to the UNICEF report.

Local donors may not have enough to rebuild an entire school or replace a broken waterline, but the donations will help give children the ability to learn again and be in a normal environment, Torres said.

The Coalition for Hispanic/Latino Issues and Progress will serve as the fiscal agent for the event.

The adults-only program will start at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Hall, 2143 Homewood Drive in Lorain.

Tickets are $15 per person with a full meal before races start. There will be dancing after the races.

Sponsorship opportunities also are available.

REBECCA BLACKWELL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Men pass a boom box out to Rosa Elia Cruz, 43, as they help her family salvage household goods and reusable bricks from their home destroyed in a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, in Union Hidalgo, Oaxaca state, Mexico.

REBECCA BLACKWELL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Josue Tolentino Gomez, 11, peers into the part of his family’s home left standing, beside a portion that collapsed, leaving him trapped under the rubble for an hour before being rescued, in Juchitan, Oaxaca state, Mexico.