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This is my cousin Memo.
Memo lost everything in Colombia's 7.4 magnitude earthquake this past Monday. His home, his car, his belongings, all gone.
When I asked him how I could help, his response was, "Whatever you send me, I will use to help people in my building."
So that is my mission. To help him and his community.
Truth be told, I wish I could help everyone. I wish I could go down there to help remove rubble and look for people. I wish I could gather gloves and masks and water and rent a plane to send everything. But I can't. So I am doing what I think is the next best thing I can do which is raise funds so we can send his way for him to help himself and his building.
This is Memo's apartment. It's completely destroyed. Thankfully, he was not in the unit when it happened. He was at his brother's apartment where there was less damage.
This is Memo's car. Total loss.
This is the side of Memo's building. The building is structurally compromised and entering is a risk. He bravely went back to save his kitty. He told me two people lost their lives in the building. One from being thrown from his bathroom and the other from a heart attack when the quake occurred. All other tenants are ok but displaced.
Who is Memo?
Memo, real name Juan Guillermo Vivas Barandica, is my cousin on my dad's side. His mom is my dad's first cousin and also my Godmother. Their parents were brother and sister. She also lives in Cali but luckily did not suffer any damage to her apartment.
Memo was most recently in NYC for the World Cup Final. He stayed in my apartment and we had so much fun. He is the life of the party as you can see in the picture above where he is holding a speaker at a Spain victory party on 14th Street in Manhattan. People gravitate to him. He loves dancing. He's always smiling. He's a people person. He's a helper.
He owns a small events rental business with his dad which luckily they did not lose. But all events have been canceled or postponed and he has spent hours contacting clients to see if they are ok and refunding everyone. So there is no income for the foreseeable future.
How is this help going to work?
I gave this hours and hours of thought. I considered setting up a GoFundMe, but I am not sure how it works with international donations and how much they charge.
100% of what is sent my way will go to him.
When I asked him how I could get these funds to him, he said through Nequi (Colombia's Venmo) and Bancolombia (his bank). My plan is to send these funds to my other cousin Jorge Eduardo in Colombia who has an American bank account with Bank of America. Whatever I get, I will Zelle to him and he can transfer it to Memo. This way we avoid any of the gross fees that these services like Western Union, PayPal and other international transfer services charge. It bothers me to imagine that if I raise, let's say, $1,000, he'd get $950 and $50 goes to some rich CEO that's sipping on a piña colada on a yacht somewhere. This is why.
I have always been 100% transparent with my donations. Whether it was for 9/11 or the Marjory Stone Douglass High School shooting in Parkland, I have always been honest and clear with who gave what and to make sure the math lines up.
If you are in Colombia and have Nequi or Bancolombia, the images to the right have his info for the transfer of funds. Just make sure you write "De Parte De Oscar Collazos" so he knows who it's coming from.
oecollazos at gmail dot com
If you plan on donating here in The States, you can send me your donation via Venmo (preferred method), PayPal (second preferred method) or Zelle. Just make sure you note "For Memo and Colombia" this way I can make sure it gets accounted and goes to him. I am joining forces with my amazing girlfriend Madelyn Bucci. So if you are one her friends, you can Venmo, Zelle or PayPal her as well.
Lastly, if you do not feel comfortable with this type of donation, I totally understand. I can suggest other, more broad-ranging donation sites such as Caring For Colombia
I have worked with them in the past. They are a reputable source and lovely people based in Harlem, NYC.
In closing, thank you for reading and even wanting to help my cousin and his community! It means so much to me.
If you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to email me, DM on WhatsApp or call me if you have my number.
I love you all. 🫶🏼🇨🇴
Thank you to the people who have donated so far.
NOTA 🇨🇴 - Si dan por Nequi, el dinero no me llega a mi. Le llega directamente a Memo en su cuenta bancaria y yo no me doy cuenta.
NOTE 🇺🇸 - If you donate via Nequi, I will not see that because that money goes directly into Memo's account and I will not know or find out.
Total as of/Last Updated on 8/18 at 4:40 PM ET
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