Elizabeth Fernandez of Graniteville saw the makeshift donation hub outside La Colmena on Port Richmond Avenue on her way to church Saturday. The next day she returned with baby formula, and was greeted with applause.
"I felt it in my heart, that's why [I donated]," said Fernandez.
Volunteers yelled "applauso!" as cars and vans from all over the Island and other boroughs dropped off supplies to help the victims of this month's earthquakes in Mexico.
Roseanne Ruby of Westerleigh brought diapers and canned food.
"It's terrible what these people are going through so of course I want to be a good example for my kids too," said Ruby whose children were in the backseat.
A truck picked up the boxes of goods Sunday night and brought them to New Jersey. Throughout the week, La Colmena will collect more items for another truck that's coming next Sunday. The supplies are being brought to Passaic, New Jersey, and from there a rescue flight operated by Aeromexico will bring the supplies to impacted regions. They're collecting everything from ibuprofen to diapers to water to tents in addition to monetary donations.
The effort is personal for David Esiquio who is from Oaxaca, one of the areas hit.
"Many people are living in the street, many people lost everything," said Esiquio who lives in Port Richmond.
Esiquio's friends sent him pictures Saturday of the aftermath following Saturday's earthquake in Oaxaca. The pictures show flooded tents where people are living. He says this weekend's earthquake was followed by rain. He says people are sleeping outside their destroyed homes because they are afraid of looters.
"Sometimes I want to cry because it's very hard to see it happen to this many people," said Esiquio.
Rodrigo Salgado is from Puebla, another affected region.
He says his friends are losing their homes, and it reminds him of when his home was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy here.
His family eventually relocated to an apartment in South Beach.
"When I see the pictures I see my face over there," said Salgado. "I know what they feel but you gotta be strong."
La Colmena is also sending money to a woman from Oaxaca who visited last year. She's created a cooking station to serve the homeless.
"There were a lot of people without food, and not just food to cook - but actually places to eat - people don't even have a place to cook," said Gonzalo Mercado, Executive Director of La Colmena. He plans to visit Mexico in a few weeks.
He says they are most in need of personal hygiene products, medical supplies, gloves, masks, and tents.
The organization expects to collect donations well into the winter.
The grassroots immigrant outreach group on the island, The Above Ground Railroad, plans to help them along the way.
"They can use more- there aren't enough diapers there, there aren't enough batteries there, there isn't enough canned food there," said Ruth Silverberg, a member of the Above Ground Railroad.
They're also collecting food for pets affected by the disaster.
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