Stefano Risi traveled to the village of of Villa Maria del Triunfo, outside of Lima, Peru in March 2024 to see all of his hard work become a reality.
photo courtesy Stefano Risi
Metro Detroit residents use the money they receive for recycling cans and bottles for a variety of things. Now they can donate those bottles and cans to help feed villagers in South America.
A Bloomfield Hills High School student is continuing the work he started as part of a school-approved project last year and will again donate the money he collects to the group “Lideresas Unidas con amor y esperanza en la lucha,” — or translated from Spanish into English, “Leaders United with love and hope in the fight.”
Risi, a senior this fall, began collecting returnables in March and has already raised $3,300. Last year he raised $2,100.
He is collecting through the summer and will return in August to the village of Villa Maria del Triunfo, outside Peru’s capital city of Lima, to see what was purchased for the village.
“One hundred percent of what we receive they receive. It goes directly to the group and they do great work,” said Stefano’s mother, Claudia. “They go to the market and buy whatever they need to cook for these families.”
Last year his $2,100 purchased over 57,000 pounds of potatoes and onions for Villa Maria del Triunfo and surrounding villages.
The Risi family is originally from Peru. Stefano got the idea to help the impoverished area during the summer of 2022.
“My sister took (Stefano) and some of his cousins to a poor neighborhood in Lima, and he saw firsthand the reality there. He was shocked to say the least,” Claudia said. “When he came back, he said, ‘Mom, we have to help these people. These people don’t have food or water, and I think we can help.’”
In March 2024, Stefano returned to the village to see what his work meant to the villagers.
Stefano earned the Outstanding Youth Citizen award from the Bloomfield Youth Association and received a Certificate of Recognition by the Peruvian congress for his work last year.photo courtesy Stefano Risi
“They welcomed me with open arms. When I got there, they were cheering,” he said. “It was amazing.”
He helped prepare food that Leaders United had purchased and villagers hosted a banquet in his honor.
“Most of the food that they had there was food purchased with the funds that we raised for them,” he said. “I was preparing the food with my own hands and saw firsthand how they prepare the meals.”
According to Statista, a market and consumer data provider, 17.3% of the Peruvian population was living on less than $3.20 a day and the poverty rate was 30% in 2020.
The poverty rate has dropped in the last two years, but a 20% poverty rate remains significant in a country with a population of just over 34 million, only five million more than the state of Texas.
For his work last year, Stefano earned the Outstanding Youth Citizen award from the Bloomfield Youth Association and received a Certificate of Recognition by the Peruvian congress.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive from last year, but it is not about the recognition, it is about bringing awareness to the cause,” he said.
Anyone interested in donating returnables, can email [email protected] for more information.
Source link : https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2024/06/18/bloomfield-hills-student-continues-to-change-lives-in-south-america/amp/
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Publish date : 2024-06-18 06:01:47
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