"It's so devastating": Tulsans helping Venezuelans impacted by Earthquakes

By: Isabel Flores

TULSA, Okla — The Venezuelan earthquakes that hit Wednesday are still taking a toll.

The current death count is more than 1400.

You may know Jose Torres as the face behind Morcilla’s sausages, but now he’s facing one of the toughest times in his life.

WATCH: "It's so devastating": Tulsans helping Venezuelans impacted by Earthquakes:

"It's so devastating": Tulsans helping Venezuelans impacted by Earthquakes

He lost his sister and brother-in-law in Wednesday’s earthquakes during a building collapse.

They left behind their two sons, who Torres has started a GoFundMe for.

Torres said he hasn’t left the house in days trying to process the loss.

“It's so devastating, I mean, I feel so bad. We are frustrated because we cannot help," he said. "I wish to be there and try to help people, because it's a lot of people, kids, and it's a very, very huge situation. We never expect this.”

He said the country’s internet is down which has made it difficult for communication and has run low on gasoline, water and supplies.

While he said it’s very difficult, the community’s resilience and support keep him going.

“I mean it's so bad, but they're doing an amazing job right now," he said. "They're working since the tragedy happens.”

Angeles en Tulsa is a non-profit that has worked in the past to send things like childrens' toys to Venezuela.

Now, they're working with shipping company BeeBox to send out items from food, water, clothing and even medicine to Venezuela.

They met at 1925 W Concord Circle on Saturday and will continue Sunday to collect, organize and pack donations to ship out.

“It’s not just Venezuelans helping out," said Vice President Josybel Lopez. "People from all nationalities have come to support and have even stayed with us to pack and organize. We are really grateful.”

Volunteer Ramon Urbina agreed, thanking everyone for their support, as well as highlighting the importance of their work.

“The most important thing to us is that these packages make it to the citizens, not big groups," he said. "We want to make sure we are helping people who’ve been impacted the most in the catastrophe.”

Angeles en Tulsa has also helped organize a community-wide collection, with businesses all over becoming drop-off spots.