To respond to this need, especially for food, the Salesian Leo XIII School community has partnered with the Salesian Ladies' Divine Child Center, the Order of Malta and a local food bank to offer care packages with basic necessities and food to families in need.
Leading the Salesian effort is Marcos Chero, a Peruvian teacher at the Leo XIII School. Speaking to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish language news partner, Cheo said he was motivated to take on the project after successfully working with the school in 2017 to deliver 700 care packages to the victims of devastating flash floods and landslides that took place in the town of Mocoa in the country's southwest.
"If we were able to put together care packages three years ago, with this situation we're going through, why can't we do it again?" Chero said.
In the initial effort, school parents, alumni, teachers and other members of the Salesian community were able to deliver 200 care packages to needy families in the area. They were then joined by the Salesian Ladies' Divine Child Center. Several additional food distributions for 80-120 families have taken place in the weeks that followed, with the next one scheduled for June 6.
The National Police have been making the deliveries, taking all the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.
Chero said the plan going forward is to make deliveries every three weeks "because we know that the coronavirus situation is going to last a long time. And so we're always looking for help, we're knocking on doors, seeking out institutions and businesses to collaborate with us."