Cathedral City man raising money for Ecuador after quake

For Luis Jimenez, he said it all started with a text.

“I saw it a couple of hours later, and I saw him, and he seemed completely fine,” Jimenez said. “But then the next day, when he started hearing about his friends passing away, and other friends missing, his family was all ok. I felt bad for him.”

Cell phone video shows major damage

Last weekend, Jimenez said his roommate from medical school in Mexico was concerned about his family in Ecuador after a massive 7.8 earthquake hit the country, and left hundreds dead and missing.

“He lived in Ecuador, so he feels this is really close to his heart,” Jimenez said. “And he’s close to mine. So it comes together.”

But Jimenez and his friend got together to reach out to Mexican officials, to help not just his friend’s family, but others who may be in need.

“They set up a plane to go from where we go to medical school in Guadalajara,” Jimenez said. “There’s going to be a plane leaving from Guadalajara to Ecuador with the supplies that the city is going to come together with.”

After setting up a Go Fund Me account, Jimenez said they’ve received a lot of help, with thousands of dollars donated, and dozens of supplies bought, hoping to help start putting the pieces back together.

“You know the people have your back. But not only your back. When it comes to this, it’s people in need,” Jimenez said. “We’re just here to help Ecuador, and hopefully everything gets better soon.”

So far, Jimenez said they’ve raised about $5,000, and have bought enough supplies to fill five cars.

They also plan on hopefully filling a second plane after the first plane leaves next week.