Dear Friends,

     I address this letter to everyone who is attentive to the needs of the poor and the youth, I want to tell you of a beautiful project of charity, and a way to respond to many youths’ desire to do something concrete andgenuine to help the less fortunate. Before coming to work in Baltimore as a priestat Our Lady of Pompei (OLP) I was living in one of the many missions that the Don Bosco movement has in the high Andes of Peru. Life in Peru is simple, much lesscomfortable than it is here. In most villages of the area,there are no roads, electricity, portable water, or sewer system. The misery is widespread, and most familieslive with little money; a day’s work earns less than $5.Their nutrition is very poor, lacking proteins and vitamins. In the past, this region was badly affected by the terrorism of “Shining Path”.

The Don Bosco missions are located mainly in poor areas, where the needs are the greatest, in the high Andes of Central Peru, in the Departments of Ancash
and Huanuco. In almost every mission there is aCatholic Boarding School, a nursery, a small emergency hospital with an ambulance, and many other services, all of which are offered completely free for the poor. Volunteers take care of running the mission. In 2008 OLP youth group shipped a whole container of food (25,000 lbs) from Baltimore to Peru. There was great enthusiasm and a very generous response to this project by the community. This year the youths want to do even more and are dreaming of shipping BIG container (50,000 lbs) to help the less fortunate. With the help of God, the container will leave Baltimore by early summer. The food needed is only the following: Pasta, Sugar, Flour, Rice, and Cooking Oil.

Thank you!
May God bless you always,
Fr. Luis Cremis, OLP Associate Priest

The food can be dropped off at:
Our Lady of Pompei
3600 Claremont Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
Donations (checks) may be made out to:
Our Lady of Pompei “Food for Peru”