Churrasqueira Bairrada, the Portuguese rodizio house on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola, is spending this fall as something more than a restaurant. Since the earthquake that tore through southern Panama on October 9, the dining room has doubled as Long Island's drop-off point for relief supplies, and on October 26 it hosts a benefit dinner with a New York Yankee at the head table.

What happened in Panama

On the afternoon of Friday, October 9, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Panama's Azuero Peninsula, the rural arm of farm towns and fishing villages on the country's Pacific side. The United States Geological Survey placed the epicenter near Pitaloza Arriba, and Panama's government declared a state of emergency the next day. More than 400 aftershocks have followed, including a strong magnitude 6.1 near Soná on October 12, while heavy rain over the same provinces has raised the risk of landslides on roads that were already broken.

The numbers from Panama's civil protection agency, current to October 12, sketch the scale: more than 1,000 homes damaged, 656 schools, 27 hospitals and health centers, nearly 600 people in shelters and ten communities cut off entirely. Whole provinces reported losing power, water and internet in the first days.

The restaurant, the consulate and the Yankee

The response running through Mineola is called United for Panama. It is organized by the Carvalho Family Foundation, the charitable arm of the family behind Bairrada, together with the Consulate General of Panama in New York and Yankees infielder José Caballero, who is from Panama and is known there simply as Chema. Owner Héctor Carvalho told News 12 the need is basic: hygiene items, baby supplies and first aid.

The restaurant takes donations whenever it is open, Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night, at 144 Jericho Turnpike, and the drive runs through December 31. Closer to the county seat, the Nassau County Office of Hispanic Affairs accepts drop-offs at 40 Main Street, Suite B, in Hempstead; call ahead at 516-572-0750. In all, eight collection centers are open across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including the Panamanian consulates in Manhattan and Philadelphia and three city council offices in Brooklyn.

What to bring

New and unopened items only. The foundation's list leans practical: toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, feminine hygiene products, wet wipes and hand sanitizer; gauze, bandages, antiseptic wipes and face masks; flashlights, batteries and portable phone chargers; new blankets, sleeping bags, towels, socks and tents for families whose houses cannot be lived in; and for the youngest, diapers, wipes, formula and baby food pouches. Shelf-stable food like protein bars, crackers and instant oatmeal helps too, along with disposable plates and utensils for the shelters serving meals.

For anyone who cannot make the drive, the foundation keeps an Amazon wish list that ships donations directly, and a GoFundMe for funds. Money moves faster than boxes: the foundation says its own team is already on the ground in Panama alongside Caballero's family, buying supplies there and handing them out in person rather than through intermediaries.

Dinner with Chema

The centerpiece of the drive is still to come. On Monday, October 26 at 6:30 p.m., the restaurant hosts Dinner with Chema Caballero: dinner, drinks and a meet and greet with the Yankees infielder, 200 seats at $150 a head, with every seat funding earthquake relief. Caballero went on MLB Network's MLB Central on October 14 to talk about the quake and the dinner, which pushed the little Mineola fundraiser onto national television.

There is a detail Long Islanders will appreciate. Bairrada is closed on Mondays. The biggest night of its fall is happening on the one evening the grill usually goes dark.

The ask this week is concrete. A package of diapers, a flashlight, a first aid kit, dropped off next to the host stand on Jericho Turnpike, ends up in the hands of a family in Los Santos or Veraguas who lost the house behind them. Few errands on Long Island this month will travel further.