A young woman in the campo, Jessica, has taken it upon herself to help her own small village look after the children who live there. I am SO glad she reached out to Les when we were having the children’s party at the village Morelos! She asked if the kids from her village could come and, of course, the more the merrier!! Now she is someone who needs OUR help and we are determined be there for her and her kids! She noticed that many of these kids were not getting much to eat. So, she has been feeding ALL of them twice daily! May God bless her mightily for the love and care she is bestowing on others and upon God’s creatures. She works tirelessly to spay and neuter the animals in the campo and tries to find homes for the homeless.
There are wonderful people everywhere willing to help us make life better for those who need our help the most. I am in awe at the generosity of my friends and neighbors. We have had a couple who provided a pair of shoes for EVERY child in TWO villages. We have a wonderful young man (17) who organized a chess tournament, and is donating the income from his labors to buy educational games and school supplies for these 2 villages! I have a friend who ALONE raised $15,000 pesos to roof 10 houses!! TEN!!! She just told her friends that there were people who had no way to stay dry during the rains and she needed them to donate towards this, AND THEY DID!!?? We regularly pick up clothing, household goods and monetary funds for food and building supplies from people who call us and want to donate. We take toys to kids who have none. We take food to people who are hungry and medicine to people who are ill. JOY is seeing the smiles and happy faces whenever they see the big white van pulling around the corner towards their casas. When children and moms see you coming and they literally start laughing and RUNNING out to meet you, there is no better feeling. So, be proud, St. Paul’s parishioners and people of San Miguel! We live in a wonderful, giving and thoughtful town full of caring and generous people, without whom we could do very little. Our little project has grown and we have been able to do a lot of good. That others see this and want to be a part of this endeavor…….this is what it is all about! Together, we really HAVE made and ARE making a difference!
Your donations buy healthy food for families with children and elderly people who have very little. These donations buy medicine for sick children and elderly folks. They buy Eco-Stoves for families who have no gas or electricity. They buy sheets of lamina for roofs and bags of cement for floors. They have provided toys for children living out of dumpsters.
Often, people ask how they can help. I think each person can decide what their level of participation should be. We deliver in a big white van. Reyes must remove (at least) the 3rd seat so there is room for the despensas and various other donations we regularly deliver. So, often there is only 1 seat available for helpers. Sandra Orellana, from St. Paul’s, goes with us regularly, now. we also already have several volunteers who help with the shopping on Thursday morning. So, the best way to help is to donate either clothing, household goods, any kind of item that would make life in the campo easier (think camping) or, of course, MONEY! Without monetary donations, we could do very little. The following is a list that might help you, should you wish to contribute.
Basic Despensa – $200 pesos
in addition, we spend approximately $2,000 pesos weekly for enhancements for these basic despensas. This includes some of the following on an alternating basis (depending on funds available).
Tortillas. Apples. Oranges. Potatoes. Onions. Carrots. Serranos
Milk. Ketchup. Pasta. Fresh eggs. Salt. Hot sauce. Tomato sauce
Juice Extra tuna. Oatmeal. Masa. Pancake mix. Jelly. Chicken bouillon
Syrup. Other canned Canned fruits. Powdered drink mix. Sugar
Bananas Meats Popcorn
Should you like to purchase some of the above items to help fill despensas while shopping for your own groceries, that would be wonderful, too. These can be left in The Parish Office. Just let Claudia know they are for The Despensa Project and I will pick them up each week.
We deliver to the village, Morelos every 2 weeks.
We deliver despensas to 6 local families every other week. We have assisted a newly widowed elderly woman who cares for her grown handicapped son by giving her a bit of money to help her adapt to her new difficult situation and a young woman with children whose husband has left her.
We have taken on a group of 15 people, including children at the garbage dump off the road to Rodriguez. We also deliver to them every 2 weeks. We take them food that fills a wheelbarrow and I always wish we could do more as I know they are hungry. We roofed 2 rooms for them and provided 3 bags of cement that provided flooring for both rooms.
We took a carload of nutritious food to Jessica to help her feed 13 hungry children, which she does daily! Any of the items from the above list are needed as well as meats, bread, cereal and LOTS of milk! She can also use dog food, hand wipes and toilet paper!
In addition to the food, we have supplied 25 people with Eco-Stoves, 30 families with lamina for roofing, and 3 families with bags of cement for floors where there was dirt.
And, then, of course, there is gasoline. We use about $2,000 pesos each month to gas up the big white van to make deliveries and pick up donations and building supplies.
Thank you for helping us help others! PLEASE, if you are so inclined to donate towards these projects, call or email one of us and we will arrange a pick up, or leave your donations in the church office with Claudia. We also have PayPal (Ask me for info) and donations can be made through St. Paul’s Church community giving program. Just make your check to St. Paul’s Church and on the memo line, write Despensa Project/Lynn Ramsey. Claudia will notify me and I will pick up the amount in pesos from the church office.
May God use us all to bless others In need.?❤️
Lynn Ramsey
415-152-4865
210-771-7464
lramsey26@yahoo.com
