Happening NowKPCC relaunches LAist to cover local news you care about
Local

How LA's Oaxacan community is helping Mexico's earthquake victims

A man stands helpless in front of a building that collapsed in Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca after an 8.1 earthquake that hit Mexico on September 8, 2017.
A man stands helpless in front of a building that collapsed in Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca after an 8.1 earthquake that hit Mexico on September 8, 2017.
PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images
KPCC Staff |

The Oaxacan community in Los Angeles is coming together on Saturday to raise money for victims of this week's 8.1 earthquake in Mexico. 

"The main thing that's needed really are financial contributions, money. The primary recipients of those will be people who have lost loved ones," said Manuel Santiago, who helped organize the fundraiser with his wife Blanca Gallegos. He spoke to KPCC through an interpreter.

Mourners in Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca cry during the funeral of 85-year-old Casimiro Rey, one of the victims of an 8.1 earthquake that hit Mexico on September 8, 2017.
Mourners in Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca cry during the funeral of 85-year-old Casimiro Rey, one of the victims of an 8.1 earthquake that hit Mexico on September 8, 2017.
PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images

Juchitan, a town in southeast Oaxaca, was hit hard. 36 people died in the town and 45 people in Oaxaca were killed by the earthquake.

Saturday's fundraiser starts at 1 p.m.  at 831 Vernon Avenue in Venice.