Mars Impact Fund donates $1 million to World Central Kitchen for Venezuela earthquake relief

Mars Inc. announced Friday that its Mars Impact Fund is providing a $1 million grant to World Central Kitchen to support earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela.

The funding will help provide more than 200,000 fresh meals to families affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela. The grant complements additional relief efforts by Mars businesses in South America.

Mars and World Central Kitchen have partnered since 2022 to provide meals to people affected by disasters and humanitarian crises around the world. Since its founding in 2010, World Central Kitchen has served more than 600 million meals globally.

“As a family-owned, principles-led business, our hearts go out to the families whose lives have been devastated by this earthquake,” said Michelle Grogg, Executive Director of the Mars Impact Fund. “In times of crisis, Mars believes we have a responsibility to utilize our global resources to support the recovery of impacted communities. We are honored to partner with World Central Kitchen, whose team has the immediate on-the-ground expertise and local relationships needed to deliver hot meals and critical relief to families when they need it most.”

In addition to the grant, Mars businesses in South America have donated more than 5 tons of food products, including cereal, snacks and pet food, through local food banks to support people and pets affected by the disaster.

World Central Kitchen said it activated its response within hours of the earthquakes, working with local restaurants and community partners to prepare and distribute meals. To date, the organization has served nearly 500,000 meals across the affected Venezuelan states of Miranda, La Guaira and Carabobo while partnering with more than 50 local restaurants.

“When the earthquakes struck, our teams and local partners were able to mobilize within hours because of partners like Mars,” said Tunde Wackman, Chief Development Officer at World Central Kitchen. “This generous grant from the Mars Impact Fund means we can keep showing up for families across Venezuela with fresh, nourishing meals, and it’s a powerful reminder that when we come together, we can help neighbors when it matters most.”

Mars also announced support for Venezuelan employees based in southern Brazil whose families were affected by the disaster, as well as funding for canine search-and-rescue teams from Argentina and Mexico through the Royal Canin Foundation. The company said it is also supporting deployment of the Los Angeles Task Force 2 Urban Search and Rescue team through VCA Charities and Royal Canin U.S. to assist emergency response efforts in Venezuela.