Graciela Gasch, a UPS H.R. manager in the company’s Colombia, Ecuador and Peru region, couldn’t stand by and watch as thousands of starving Venezuelans fled the country looking for a better life.
Graciela, a native Venezuelan, was able to escape the political and socioeconomic turmoil consuming her country years ago relocating to Bogota, Colombia. But not a day goes by where she isn’t thinking of the loved ones she left behind.
"It hurts me to see what is happening in my country. So much injustice, we do not deserve it. It's something that goes beyond everything you can imagine,” Graciela says.
Every childhood memory brings her right back to Caracas where she grew up, and she can’t help but get choked up every time she sees the caravans of displaced Venezuelans arriving, often on foot, into Colombia.
"When I see the images of Venezuelans at the border, I tell myself that I have to do something and find a way to help," she says.
Graciela reached out to The UPS Foundation and asked if they would make a donation to the World Food Program to help the displaced Venezuelans in Colombia.
With needs around the world, it can be a challenge to get the necessary resources. Graciela found herself knocking on very door possible. “I pushed and pushed and pushed,” she said.
Finally, Graciela received the answer she was hoping for. The UPS Foundation approved a donation of $50,000 to the World Food Program - 300 Venezuelan immigrants in Cucuta would get the support and help they needed. Co-workers could hear shouts of joy coming out of Graciela’s office. She had done it.
"What Graciela did was admirable. She did not accept 'no' for an answer,” said Marioly Fiandor, H.R. director for UPS’s Americas Region, which includes Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and South America. “She set a goal and went for it."
"It hurts me to see what is happening in my country. So much injustice, we do not deserve it. It's something that goes beyond everything you can imagine.”