Javier Salazar is trying to make sure earthquake victims in smaller Mexican communities are not forgotten.

The Edmonton man born in Mexico City is raising money and using the funds to take care of those affected in smaller communities outside the capital, like Oaxaca.

“Mexico City is getting enough help for the moment, but these other communities are not,” Salazar said. “All the other communities are being forgotten.”

Salazar was in Mexico in 1985 when the capital city was hit by an 8.0 earthquake.

“I remember seeing everything move and things falling,” Salazar said. “I couldn’t do anything; I was 10 years old so there was no way for me to do anything, so it was very frustrating to see all that and not knowing what’s going on, and to see your parents with that uncertainty and that fear.”

Now, as an adult, Salazar is doing everything he can to help.

“Even a five dollar donation or a t-shirt will help in ways they can’t imagine, because, again, people right now have nothing – they lost everything they had.”

Salazar is raising money on GoFundMe and transferring it to volunteers in Mexico to buy supplies there.

 “We are buying blankets for kids because they’re showing signs of hypothermia because they’re sleeping outdoors,” he said.

A group called Mexicanos in Edmonton is also collecting items such as clothes, diapers, hygiene products, and air mattresses to send them to Mexico on Friday.