LOVE THY NEIGHBOR THIS MONTH BY CONTRIBUTING FOOD PACKS AND TOTES
How precious is this, Dear Reader?
Read on…
We celebrate God’s love every day. Many of us often think of Valentine’s Day when we think of February, and I invite you to join me in celebrating love for all of God’s children. There are specific needs we hope to address with urgency, as we assist our sisters and brothers who seek asylum in the Rio Grande Valley.
With our partners, we serve those released from detention through offices of Homeland Security. These asylum seekers have been vetted and health-screened, and are free to be in this country as they await their asylum hearing. That wait can be a year or longer. In the meantime, they go to the homes of relatives or sponsors. I know I have shared this before, but it is worth repeating that we and our partners in the Valley welcome these asylum seekers when they are released from detention. They have nothing. We buy a bus ticket to get them to their temporary homes. We give them clothes appropriate to their destination, and a pack of necessities for the journey – hygiene kit, snack packs, and a blanket.
Our current urgent needs are backpacks or tote bags, and snack packs. We find ourselves having to buy these things now out of monies that could otherwise go for transportation. We would be grateful for gifts designated for that purpose. Since some donors prefer hands-on projects, we invite those to prepare snack packs. The food is placed in a clear, zip-lock bag, and contains non-perishable, individually wrapped snacks with the goal of some nutrition. When we buy the food here, we include some combination of:
- Juice box with straw attached
- Peanut butter crackers
- Trail mix
- Granola or protein bars
- Nuts
- Raisins or other non-perishable fruit snacks
The least expensive, yet durable, tote we have found would be similar to this one from the Amazon website:
We are not endorsing any particular seller, but want to emphasize the need for a backpack or a flat-bottomed and reusable tote bag. (We do, however, remind you that we are a recipient of Amazon’s SMILE program through which you can designate us as the charity to receive a portion of any proceeds for your Amazon purchases: smile.amazon.com )
Items can be shipped to us directly at our street address:
28259 Pereira Compassion Rd
Los Fresnos TX 78566
Thank you in advance for any consideration you can offer on this request, be they bags or food packs or cash donations designated for this purpose. God bless you.
And God bless all the persons who made winter easier for so many with the beautiful blankets and quilts lovingly made and donated by Project Linus. We received hundreds of these blankets, designed for babies and children and teens, with the December donation delivery of our Mike’s Kids program. The refugee girl pictured at the top of this missive is happy to have received one of these blankets. Pictured below is a sampling of 3 of these items – such a variety of fun and beautiful designs! You can learn more about the wonderful ministry of the blanket/quilt donors at https://www.projectlinusdallas.org/
Volunteers here and throughout the Valley undertake the prayerful discernment to distribute these and other gifts donated to us, seeking to be true to donor purpose in serving the “least of these.”
Where would we be without our partners? You, Dear Reader, are one of those partners. You read our newsletter. We covet your prayers, and any other means by which you might help.
Your Brother-In-Christ,
Feliberto Pereira
Rev. Feliberto Pereira
Executive Director
