Sweet donation: Saskatoon churro sales help fund Venezuela earthquake relief efforts

People in Saskatoon can help support earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela simply by buying some churros.

On Thursday, 100 per cent of net sales at Sure O’s in Lawson Heights Mall will be sent to Venezuela to assist with relief efforts after a pair of earthquakes hit the country last week, leaving more than 2,200 people dead and 11,000 injured.

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“We are doing what we are good at to help them,” Sure O’s employee Andrea Godoy said.

The funds raised on Thursday are going towards the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce Foundation, a nonprofit group providing food, medical supplies, water and other relief. Purchasing a churro isn’t a requirement, though, with the shop also accepting donations at its two stores in the Lawson Heights Mall and Gather Local Market.

The churro shop’s fundraiser comes after the two massive earthquakes hit the country just seconds apart on June 24, leaving widespread damage in their wake.

“Literally one entire city just fell down, you know? Like, there’s no house that hasn’t been affected,” Godoy said.

For Andrea Godoy, any donation helps. “Even $1, $2 that we make is gonna be a big help, a big support for Venezuelan people,” she said. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)

Godoy came to Canada three years ago, but said she has family members in Venezuela. While, her relatives are OK, she said many friends of their and neighbours have “lost everything.”

One of the hardest parts of the last week, according to Godoy, has been putting a smile on her face for the customers while she feels “heartbroken” inside. On top of the sadness, she said she also feels frustrated being so far away and unable to help directly.

“There is no way I can go to Venezuela and help them to get people out of the rubble,” Godoy said.

Godoy said the fundraiser has left her feeling “a little more relieved,” because it’s given her a way to help those in her home country.

“I am feeling much better now, but I (am) still heartbroken just watching the news and seeing what’s happening every day,” she said.

Though Godoy is Venezuelan, the fundraising idea wasn’t hers. Instead, she said it came from her bosses.

“I just started to cry,” Godoy said when she heard about the plan. “My bosses became like my family here in Canada, so it was just a nice gesture they had.”

While the fundraiser only runs from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., Godoy said she wants people to remember that Venezuela doesn’t just need help for a single day. With entire neighbourhoods destroyed, “this is going to be a long path,” Godoy said.