DORAL, Fla. — Andrea Brito was among the donors and volunteers who worked hard on Friday despite their pain after the devastating 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck Venezuela.

Brito, who was doing her part to push a flow of aid from South Florida to the disaster zone, couldn’t stop thinking about her uncle Roberto Brito and aunt Kairol Piñero, who vanished on Wednesday in La Guaira.

Brito, who had a flyer with pictures of them and Norelys Marrero, hopes they may still be alive and waiting for help under the rubble. Volunteers were searching, but they lacked machinery and tools.

“We are trying to find resources to help lift the concrete that collapsed on top of them,” said Brito at El Arepazo in Doral.

MISSING AFTER EARTHQUAKE: On Friday, in Doral, Andrea Brito holds a flyer with pictures of her uncle Roberto Brito and aunt Kairol Piñero, and Norelys Marrero, who vanished on Wednesday in Venezuela's state of La Guaira.

The Venezuelan restaurant, open 24 hours, seven days a week, at the Chevron gas station, at 10191 NW 58th St., was among the drop-off locations collecting aid to be delivered to the local nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission’s warehouse in Doral.

“I haven’t stopped crying since the earthquake,” said Susanna Taddei, a Venezuelan-American LGBTQ+ rights activist who was dropping off aid at El Arepazo.

Taddei said the civilians, who were trying to rescue survivors from the rubble, were in desperate need of equipment, tools, and parts such as grinding wheels to cut through metal.

Some used markers to write messages in Spanish on the cardboard boxes that were piling up with donations. One donor wrote, “Fuerza Venezuela,” or “Stay Strong, Venezuela,” and drew a few hearts.

Related list: Drop-off locations in South Florida

More HELPING VENEZUELA coverage

Helping Venezuela: Altruism at El Arepazo feeds Global Empowerment Mission’s team effort

Venezuelans hoping for survivors under earthquakes’ rubble say search-and-rescue tools are needed

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