August 11th 2026.
Current Venezuela Updates below these first paragraphs and photos.
Death toll: 5,000 and rising daily as more bodies are found under the rubble. 10,000s of people still missing.
Third Wave Volunteers' disaster response teams work on short- and long-term missions with the motto of LOVE IN ACTION.
Third Wave is on the ground in Venezuela.
When disaster strikes, the strength of a response is measured by who is already standing beside the community. For the past five years, Third Wave Volunteers has been working alongside the Indigenous Wayuu people across La Guajira in Colombia and Venezuela, building trusted relationships that extend far beyond emergency relief. In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Venezuela, we are immediately expanding our existing mission to reach earthquake-affected urban and rural communities with medical care, safe drinking water, emergency food, solar lights, shelter supplies, and other critical essentials.
While the world’s attention will soon move elsewhere, our commitment will not. Your support doesn’t fund a temporary response; it strengthens a long-term humanitarian mission that is already on the ground and will remain there for years to come.
We are a trusted 25-year Florida non-profit 501 (c) (3) that takes no salaries - all donations go to help the people on the ground in a disaster. Tax receipts available.
Love Dr. Alison Thompson - Founder- Third Wave Volunteers.
2026 Australian of the Year, N.S.W
August 11, 2026
Our volunteers continue to help the tens of thousands of families living in small tents along the roadways, many without access to electricity, clean water, or even basic lighting.
We have some incredible news to share. Our Board Member, Juan Pablo, recently held a fundraiser for solar lights at his restaurants in Denver through the Culinary Creative Group, bringing together an amazing group of chefs, restaurant owners, local businesses, and community leaders. The Governor’s and Mayor’s offices, players from the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, and countless local kitchens and businesses all stepped up to help.
The money raised through that incredible effort, together with what we have collected here from so many of you, has allowed us to purchase thousands more solar lights. They have now made it onto a plane bound for Venezuela, and our teams will be distributing them directly to families in need very soon.
And now, sadly, there is more work ahead.
Colombia has experienced another earthquake, and we are preparing a separate campaign to help the families affected there. Our beloved Francia is heading to Colombia now to establish Third Wave operations. She is from Colombia, and our volunteers will follow to begin assisting communities on the ground.
So, we are now responding to both the earthquake disaster in Venezuela and the earthquake in Colombia.
We need your prayers, your support, and your help spreading the word.
Please continue to share this fundraiser------near and far. Every share, every donation, and every solar light can make a difference to a family sitting in the darkness tonight.
We love you all. ❤️
With gratitude and love,
Dr. Alison
Founder
Third Wave Volunteers
July 21st Update:
Third Wave Volunteers have been working hard on the ground to push aid and medicines out to the people. We look for the gaps, and one of the greatest needs is the solar lights we are providing, but we need 1000's more with 10,000s of people living in the streets in small tents.
After 25 years of aid work, we know all the trusted aid groups on the ground, and so we are helping them all join together to share resources and aid and help push it out of pallets and warehouses to the streets.
We are working alongside the local masons who have 200 lodges around Venezuela. And lodges in every country of the world, so the flow is working very well. (We also worked with the masons in Puerto Rico for one year after the Hurricane Maria disaster.)
Your aid is reaching the ground, so thank you all for your continued support. We are able to refill many ground zero medical clinics with medicines, including the local McDonald's franchise, which is closed for food but has now become a medical clinic, run by a busy local staff.
Other great orgs we see on the ground doing hard work are Operation Blessing, Samaritan's Purse, Wayuu Tayu, The Masons, Caritas, World Central Kitchen, and 1000s of Venezuelan volunteers.
July 15 th update: The Venezuela earthquake is one of the largest disasters I’ve seen in 25 years it’s the first one to remind me of working on the pile on Sept 11 th and instead of two high rises collapsed it’s 180 high rises - people are digging for their loved ones with their bare hands - there is no coordination and not enough equipment or large machinery - I’ve seen men crying rivers and a nation in shock - last night on the pile while getting solar lights to searches in pockets to use way under ground another worker fractured his leg - just at the moment when another body was located-
On another note, the Alcatraz concentration camp tents have been decommissioned - and the third wave has submitted the bid to use those tents as shelters in Venezuela - quite ironic.
Pray for Venezuela; the people here are really friendly and kind and have embraced us with a love I haven’t seen in a while. It’s all about love, and Love always wins in the end, ❤️🩹🙏🇻🇪
July 8, 2026:
In more than 25 years of responding to some of the world's largest disasters, the earthquakes in Venezuela rank among the most devastating we have ever witnessed. The scale of destruction is overwhelming, and the pain is beyond words.
Our Third Wave Volunteers teams are on the ground searching for the gaps where help is needed most. We provide search-and-rescue support, emergency medical care, solar lights, water filtration systems, prescription medications, field hospitals, clean water solutions, and simply give love and the best hugs.
Every donation helps us reach another family in desperate need. If your company can make a contribution, we can provide a tax-deductible receipt- it's worth an ask.
Here's How You Can Help
Share this fundraiser. If you're unable to donate today, please send this to your family, friends, and colleagues. Your share could reach someone who can.
$15 provides a solar light for a family of four living without electricity in the streets
$10 provides a water filter, giving a family access to safe drinking water.
Larger donations help us purchase life-saving medicines and medical supplies that cannot be sourced through donations.
Use your voice. Share this campaign across social media to keep Venezuela in people's hearts long after the headlines fade.
Volunteer locally. Support your local churches, nonprofits, and community groups collecting supplies for those affected.
We urgently need medical volunteers. As search-and-rescue operations transition into long-term recovery, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical professionals are urgently needed to evaluate patients, write prescriptions, and source essential medications.
If you would like to volunteer, please contact us at alisont@thirdwavevolunteers.com
One of the greatest challenges in this response is access. Venezuela has been largely closed off to international humanitarian efforts for many years. As time passes, it will become increasingly difficult for aid organizations to enter the country. Even now, U.S. volunteers require visas that must be approved by the U.S. State Department, making the process much harder and often taking days or weeks.
It's in these darkest times that humans rise in the victory of Love, and Love always wins.
With gratitude,
Dr. Alison Thompson
Founder, Third Wave Volunteers
Pray for Venezuela; the people here are really friendly and kind and have embraced us with a love I haven’t seen in a while. It’s all about love, and Love always wins in the end, ❤️🩹🙏🇻🇪
NEWS UPDATE 8th July.
Confirmed dead: 3,685
Still missing: at least 41,000+ missing-persons.
The disaster came from two major quakes on June 24: M7.2 followed seconds later by M7.5, west of Caracas.
The hardest-hit areas include La Guaira, especially around Catia la Mar/Caraballeda, and parts of Caracas. Nearly 18,000 people are homeless/displaced, with shelters overcrowded and urgent needs for water, food, medicine, sanitation, and body management.
Venezuela Earthquake Update: June 30th, 2026-
Thank you for your faithful donations. Please spread the link to friends and contacts.
Third Wave Volunteers have sent volunteers to Clinico Alfa and areas around La Guajira, and more medical volunteers are deploying over the next few days and weeks.
The confirmed death toll from the devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela stands at 1,719 people, while between 46,000 and 68,000 people remain missing or unaccounted for.
Casualty Breakdown
Confirmed Deaths: 1,719 (an increase of nearly 300 over the last 24 hours).
Injured: At least 5,034 people.
Displaced: Over 15,800 people have been left homeless.
Status of the Missing
The exact number of missing individuals remains highly fluid due to severe communication disruptions, collapsed infrastructure, and variations between data trackers:
Opposition/Public Trackers: An unofficial community registry website tracking the missing lists 46,628 people as unaccounted for.
United Nations Estimates: The UN estimates that the number of missing people could be as high as 50,000 to 68,000.
Potential Scale: Because entire multi-story residential neighborhoods collapsed in the coastal state of La Guaira, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) projects a 44% chance that the final death toll could ultimately exceed 10,000 people.
Love Dr. Alison and Third Wave Volunteers.
