Carolina Tanguay – a Raymond resident, Windham business owner, and native of Chile – is seeking donations that will go to those in her native country struggling in the aftermath of Feb. 27’s earthquake and tsunami.

After leaving her native country in the late 1970s, Tanguay lived in Europe for about a decade before settling in Maine with her husband George Tanguay in 1991. She moved to Raymond 10 years ago and opened a cooperative gift shop featuring local artisans in the Auburn Mall. She later moved the business, “Lasting Impressions of Maine,” to the Maine Mall and then to Route 302 in North Windham last summer.

Though thousands of miles from her native country, where many of her family members still reside, she is hosting an online and in-store sale of gift items and donating as much as 100 percent of the proceeds to Chilean earthquake relief.

Though earthquakes in mountainous Chile have been common throughout its history, the recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks have rocked her country physically and emotionally, she said, and that is why she feels compelled to help.

“My younger one, Andrew, he loves to watch the weather,” Tanguay said. “He was up at 7 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 27). He comes in to my bedroom, wakes me up and says, ‘Grandma has an earthquake.’ I said, where did you hear that? On the news, the news, he said. So I went in and, oh my God, when I saw that I was shocked. First thing, I started getting on the phone. And that’s what I did all weekend.”

Since the earthquake two weeks ago, she has used the telephone and social networking Web sites to keep in touch with her mother Graciela, father Mario, brothers Oscar and Ivan, and their wives, as well as many other nieces, nephews and friends.

But initial contact with her loved ones was difficult. With phone and Internet connections spotty, Tanguay spent several days tracking down the various members of her family, and was relieved to find everybody made it through OK. But in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, she said psychological effects are beginning to take a toll.

“We are used to earthquakes because we grew up with them, but not this magnitude, not this kind of destruction. So everybody is really scared,” she said. “I was talking to my mother and she was saying she doesn’t even want to go outside, it’s just terrible to see the people and how they have lost everything.”

Tanguay said others are afraid to be inside, sleeping outside out of fear that another earthquake could level their homes.

So, because her people are suffering so much, Tanguay wants to do what she can to help.

Working through her 23-year-old niece, Daniella, who is her eyes and ears on the ground in Chile, Tanguay is working with a Chilean relief agency to buy basics such as water, blankets and food for the people hardest hit, especially those in more remote areas where relief aid has yet to make a significant impact.

“We want to go where the help won’t be there anytime soon. That’s what we’re trying to do,” Tanguay said.

Tanguay plans to visit her family in Chile within the next two months as soon as she updates her passport and takes care of personal and business matters.

But Tanguay said she can’t do it on her own. She contacted the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce last week so the vast network of local business owners would know about her fundraising effort. Tanguay is hoping the Chamber, plus local media, will generate an overflowing amount of aid for the struggling Chileans.

While Tanguay will accept monetary donations at the store, located at 856 Roosevelt Trail in North Windham, she prefers that people get something in return for their donation, hence the sale on home de?cor products.

“I want people to get something in exchange for their donation,” Tanguay said.

Those interested in purchasing the products, can visit www.lastingimpressionsofmaine.com and click on “Chile in my heart,” which will then open a separate page listing products available for purchase. Tanguay said 100 percent of each online purchase will go toward the relief effort. Twenty percent of in-store purchases will go toward earthquake relief.

Tanguay also said people who donate can check back to the Web site every few weeks or so to check on the status of the local fundraising effort.

“I will keep it up to date so people can be sure to know what we’re collecting, where it’s going and how it’s being used,” Tanguay said. “That’s important.”

Carolina Tanguay, left, and Karen Burnell have gift items for sale at Lasting Impressions of Maine gift store in North Windham, with 20 percent of the proceeds going toward relief efforts in Tanguay’s native Chile. Tanguay, owner of the gift shop, is also offering items for sale online, 100 percent of the proceeds of which will go to Chilean relief efforts following the earthquake there. (Staff photo by John Balentine)