The Kiwanis Club of Lima inaugurated the Los Olivos Breakfast Project in September in support of its mission to serve the children of Lima.

After canvassing his Los Olivos neighborhood deep in the heart of Lima's sprawling Cono Norte, Kiwanis Club charter member Juan Mandujano presented a proposal to his club to supplement the meagre Vaso de leche breakfasts of those in his community most at risk in terms of food security. The Kiwanis membership voted at its July meeting to accept the proposal, and to finance it from funds earned in the recent fund-raising concert at the Jazz Zone in Miraflores.

S/. 950 provided ingredients for 2 hearty sandwiches, each Monday through Friday morning, for 21 children ages 6 to 8 determined to be the most needy, with enough money left over to feed 4 of their grandmothers and to finance a Saturday afternoon chocolatada to celebrate the opening of the Los Olivos Breakfast Project.

The chocolatada at Juan's house was a great joy for the scores of children and their grandmothers who were there, as well as for the five Kiwanis members who joined the party. Held on Saturday, September 8th, a week after the program had begun, the Kiwanians brought panetones with them to supplement the hot chocolate, as well as T-shirts for all the kids and other gifts that Connie thought to bring along. The chilly afternoon felt a lot like Christmas to me.

To round out the month, Juan and his wife Teofila hosted la gran pollada to raise funds in order to finance the sandwich program for the month of October. With Kiwanis members each buying 10 or 20 tickets @ S/. 7 each, and the Mandujanos' cooking up no less than 240 1/4 chickens in the makeshift kitchen set up in the front room of their house, la gran pollada was a great success. Over S/.1,500 was raised, assuring that the Los Olivos Breakfast Project would continue at least throughout October.

At the October Kiwanis meeting, plans were made for another benefit concert in November and a December Christmas celebration together with our happy friends in Los Olivos. Their happiness is indeed infectious.

If you would like to take part in the Joy of Giving with the Kiwanis Club of Lima, call Jim Rudolph at 254-2779 for further information, or write to him at jrudolph@ec-red.com