CARACAS, Venezuela — As communities across Venezuela recover from the June 24 earthquakes, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is strengthening our support for local community kitchens in La Guaira and Caracas, helping them expand their capacity and keep serving families still in need. Since the earthquakes, WCK has distributed over 1.5 million meals across Miranda, La Guaira and Carabobo, working with local restaurants, community kitchens and other partners.

WCK is working alongside community kitchens that are already embedded in their neighborhoods and understand the needs of the people they serve. WCK is providing equipment, food supplies, logistics, operational guidance, and training to help strengthen their existing initiatives and sustain food assistance. Current partners include Remar, Ararat–La Casona and Comedor de La Guaira, with WCK working closely with each organization to identify needs and provide the resources required to maintain and expand their operations.

As WCK winds down operations at our Field Kitchen in Naiguatá, these community kitchens are becoming a central part of the transition toward a more locally led response in Venezuela. WCK’s local team will continue working alongside these partners, supporting their operations and helping ensure assistance reaches priority locations.

Olivier de Belleroche, WCK Response Director in Venezuela, says:

“WCK’s role is not to replace what communities are already doing, but to support and strengthen the people and organizations closest to those communities. These local teams understand their neighborhoods, their needs and how to reach people effectively. By providing food, equipment, logistics and operational support, we can help strengthen a response that can continue beyond WCK’s direct emergency operations.”

As part of the transition, WCK is also investing in local emergency response capacity, leaving equipment and resources behind to strengthen preparedness and help communities respond to future emergencies.

As WCK’s direct emergency operations wind down, support for families affected by the earthquakes will continue through the local organizations and community kitchens serving La Guaira and Caracas.

For more information or media enquiries, please contact:  
Roberta Alves, Director of Media Relations at ralves@worldcentralkitchen.org or +1 202.400.7483
Our full media team is reachable at press@wck.org