Mercy Chefs Responds to Venezuela Following Devastating Earthquakes
PORTSMOUTH, VA – Mercy Chefs, a Virginia-based nonprofit specializing in disaster relief, has activated a response in Venezuela following two devastating earthquakes.
Mercy Chefs has an established presence in Venezuela, where five Mercy Chefs Global feeding sites operate year-round through trusted local ministry partners. Following the earthquakes, Mercy Chefs immediately activated its network, providing the food, funding for transportation, and resources needed for partners to begin serving hot, chef-prepared meals in the hardest-hit communities while the organization’s global disaster response team mobilizes to join them.
Mercy Chefs team members are scheduled to depart within the next 12 hours and are expected to arrive in Venezuela in the coming days to expand relief efforts alongside local partners. Drawing on experience responding to some of the world’s largest earthquake disasters, including the unprecedented earthquakes in Haiti and Turkey, the team will work to rapidly scale operations. Once on the ground, Mercy Chefs expects to serve thousands upon thousands of hot, chef-prepared meals each day in the communities hardest hit by the earthquakes.
Behind the scenes, Mercy Chefs team members have been knocking down doors and working every available channel to secure the necessary travel approvals and reach Venezuela as quickly as possible.
“The impact of the two earthquakes is absolutely devastating, and the death toll continues to climb,” said Gary LeBlanc, founder and CEO of Mercy Chefs. “We’re grateful our established network in Venezuela was able to begin serving meals immediately. Now, as our response team joins them, we’ll continue working together to feed body and soul in communities facing unimaginable loss.”
Mercy Chefs was founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when LeBlanc volunteered in New Orleans and was deeply troubled by the little to no food safety measures being provided to disaster victims. Twenty years later, the organization he founded has provided more than 38 million restaurant-quality meals across the country and around the globe.
Support Mercy Chefs’ relief efforts in Venezuela at give.mercychefs.com/venezuela-earthquake-2026. For more updates, visit mercychefs.com/venezuela-relief.