Miami Moms for Ecuador

Miami Moms for Ecuador

Never underestimate the global reach of Miami moms. The moment news of the magnitude 7.8 quake in Ecuador broke, local moms and their families leaped into action.

Civically-active Pinecrest mom Anna Hochkammer explained, “I have an Ecuadorian husband and three Ecuadorian daughters who are very involved in our community. On the day after the earthquake, my kids were already mobilizing an effort in their school.” As the effort snowballed, Anna learned there were tons of Ecuadorian-Americans out there ready to help and the greater Miami community also rallied around the cause.

Anna was a friend with Laura Munilla a fellow Pinecrest resident, mother of six and native of Ecuador. “After we mobilized our original network of Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay moms and filled 11 pallets of humanitarian aid from a garage-level effort, we said what else can we do? Who else can we call?”

They called and tapped into an impressive line-up of people and organizations. Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho involved all of Miami-Dade County’s public schools, by creating a drive and drop off points for two weeks (May 8-20). Miami Mayor Carlos Giménez got Ryder Systems to donate trucks and logistics assistance. The Ecuadorian consulate joined and created plans to catalog, permit and transport the supplies to Ecuador.

And so, on the day before Mother’s Day, at Royal Flowers in Doral, the Miami Moms for Ecuador kicked into high gear with a press conference and a tour of the warehouse space they had filled with donated supplies.

Mayor Giménez summed up the effort best by saying, “I am only a school superintendent, but I recognize we are all children of one god and a global family. When in need, this is what we do.”

Miami Moms for Ecuador, along with so many amazing organizations, are now organizing transport of 12 full planes of aid to be delivered around the first week of June. And they are not done. With the hearts and minds captured by this project, they are vowing to become a lasting resource to Ecuador’s rebuilding process. Hochkammer concluded, “Their infrastructure is broken, the hygiene systems are broken and many are displaced. We want to be there to see things fixed and we’ve got an amazing amount of local support to help Ecuador long-term.”

You can get involved at facebook.com/MiamiMomsForEcuador.

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