Sara Bedoya was in Quindío, Colombia when a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit at 7:34 a.m. on Aug. 10.
“A lot of roofs fell down, including the roof of my family’s coffee shop, Café Jesús Martín,” she said in an Instagram video.
Bedoya, a relationship manager with Cofinet, a business that sources coffee from Colombia and Peru, started a GoFundMe to support families in Quindío and Chocó whose farms and homes were damaged. “There are a lot of people who lost absolutely everything,” she said.
Damage assessments are ongoing in the aftermath of the quake in western Colombia, whose epicenter was near San José del Palmar in the Chocó region, one of the country’s poorest. While tremors affected Colombia’s capital of Bogotá and its second-largest city, Medellín, many of the country’s coffee-growing regions—which were last struck by a major earthquake in 1999—bore the brunt of the impact. Thousands of Colombians remain displaced as rescue operations continue.
The earthquake has killed more than 250 people and injured thousands. More than 100 of those deaths were in Pereira, the 500,000-person capital of Risaralda, a major coffee-producing region. The quake also damaged critical infrastructure, including homes, schools, roads, bridges, and health facilities.
How You Can Help the Relief Efforts
Colombians around the world are reaching out for support, and the international coffee community, from the U.S. to Australia to Denmark, is standing in solidarity.
For those who want to donate to relief efforts, Colombians online have recommended donating to organizations like Cruz Roja Colombiana (Colombian Red Cross) and World Central Kitchen, along with local donation drives and fundraising efforts like Bedoya’s.
“Our teams were deployed within hours of the earthquake, thanks to the strong network of trained staff and volunteers we have at the national level,” said Colombian Red Cross National President Dr. Judith Carvajal de Álvarez. The organization is coordinating with public authorities to conduct search-and-rescue operations; reunite families; and provide emergency health care, shelter, and other basic services.
Humanitarian network IFRC—which includes the Colombian Red Cross and many other national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies—has launched an emergency appeal for 25 million Swiss francs (about $30.8 million USD), funds it estimates are needed to support at least 24,000 survivors in the region over the next 24 months.
Within the coffee industry, many businesses are donating a portion of sales to support Colombia. Maryland-based Mayorga Coffee pledged to donate 100% of online sales made between Aug. 10–12 to relief efforts, and has since raised $28,150 USD for World Central Kitchen, as the company shared on Instagram.
The Colombian owners of Frontino Coffee in Brisbane, Australia launched A Cup for Home. 80% of the coffee menu’s profits will go towards rebuilding their hometowns in Valle del Cauca, also the location of their family coffee farm.
Kentucky-based Quills Coffee is donating $2 from every bag of coffee of Black Condor coffee to earthquake relief efforts. The coffee comes from Colombian exporter Forest Coffee’s Black Condor Project, which has made a washing station and premium payment opportunities available to more than 100 farmers in the Tolima region.
Others are organizing drives and fundraisers. The International Women’s Coffee Alliance Colombia branch has launched a donations campaign. Colombian writer and photographer Lucia Bawot organized a community item drive to collect emergency supplies, including flashlights and masks for responders, first-aid kits, and hygiene items for affected families.
Bawot is also the founder of SANA Programs, which provides mental health and wellness programs for women coffee farmers in Colombia. On LinkedIn, she shared that despite damage to their homes, “all SANA team members, program participants, and their families are safe.”
Rallying Coffee Community Support for Colombia
Originally from Bogotá, Camilo Ibañez is a barista and designer who moved to Denmark in 2023. He now co-owns Olea, a specialty café in Odense. Since the earthquake, Ibañez has been mobilizing Danes to donate funds via his GoFundMe so those affected by the earthquake can access basic necessities like food, water, and medicine.
He hopes to prioritize marginalized communities, including Afro-Colombians, in places like Chocó, which are systemically disadvantaged. Local community members have posted that the area is struggling for resources after the earthquake, despite being at the epicenter.
Ibañez expresses grief at being so far away from his homeland. At the same time, he’s grateful for the response from his community in Denmark. “Being far from home during this calamity allowed me to experience the pain with profound despair, feeling powerless to act and offer support to those who need it right now,” he told Fresh Cup.
“I initially didn’t expect the campaign to go so far so quickly, but it has also allowed me to feel the affection and support of a community of Danish and international friends and acquaintances,” he said. “To them, I offer my heartfelt gratitude.”
Photo by Julian Andres Carmona Serrato on Unsplash
