Rocket City Trash Pandas rally to support Venezuela earthquake relief efforts

As Venezuela marks 215 years of independence, the country is also mourning the lives lost and beginning the long road to recovery following the deadly earthquakes that struck late last month.

Thousands of people have died, and many more remain unaccounted for. The tragedy has also hit close to home for members of the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

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“A little bit of a shocker,” Trash Pandas Catcher J.J. D’Orazio said.

D’Orazio, who was born in Venezuela, still has family living in the country. He said all of his relatives are safe but described the emotional toll the disaster has taken on him and countless others.

“It’s just no words with a little bit of this scary moment that we went through, realizing what just happened and then once it got deeper into the night, how serious the situation was,” he said.

While his immediate family escaped harm, D’Orazio said many people across Venezuela were not as fortunate.

“I know so many of my Winter Ball teammates lost loved members and it’s a tough situation for the country right now. Even though it affected a small, part of the country, it actually impacts on the whole country.”

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D’Orazio is one of six Venezuelan-born players on the Trash Pandas roster. The five other active members are José González, Leonard Garcia, Eybersson Polanco, Juan Flores, and Yeremi Villahermosa. Manager Joe Kruzel said the organization quickly checked in with those affected.

“The organization has reached out to them individually and talked with them, just to make sure that for them and their families, they’re all okay and from everything that we understand in communicating with our Venezuelan players, is that all their families are safe,” Kruzel said.

D’Orazio said the earthquakes struck close to where he grew up.

“We all know where everybody’s from in this team. I was probably the one that lives the closest to where everything happened.”

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“The biggest thing that we can do is we can just keep praying that everything’s going on there to help the recovery of that,” Kruzel said.

Now, the team is turning concern into action. The Venezuelan players and the Trash Pandas Foundation are partnering to collect donations for earthquake relief efforts.

The funds will support efforts to provide shelter, health services, and relief supplies for those most affected by the earthquakes. More information on the Trash Pandas’ relief efforts can be found here.