HEY YOU! Yes you! Will you please help Love Light & Melody raise $10,000 for the people of La Chureca?!?! It's simple... but we definitely need your help! :-) Razoo, an online community bringing people together to make positive change in the world, is sponsoring a contest this month to help nonprofits raise money. Help us qualify by being the first 100 people to join our group by October 1st!

Here's how:

1. Go to Razoo and create an account


2. Check your email and confirm your account


3. Join the Love Light & Melody group


4. Tell your friends!

Lou Braun, a lacrosse player for the Denver Outlaws, used his voice and platform as a professional athlete to spotlight the La Chureca community. In a feature article in August's issue of Inside Lacrosse, Lou describes his experience in La Chureca...

"We can see pictures of kids covered in snot, mud and garbage, their stomachs sticking out because of malnutrition, barefoot and weak; and yet they're still smiling? Sure we can see some type of beauty there; but what do we know of this or this life? The real beauty comes through intimacy only found in relationship. To walk with that kid, spend time in his home, see his pet pig and chickens and ducks, to play games with him and his friends, to eat a meal with him..."

Read the full article...

Dawn Gray and her newly founded International Art Missions, raised $500 dollars for the art program at Escuela de Esperanza, the elementary school built in the heart of La Chureca. How did she do it? By selling art pieces that she helped the students create during Love Light & Melody's Dia de Luz event in March 2007.

See the artwork...

Barbara Massey, the director of a medical association in Colorado, is currently organizing her second annual Christmas gift drive for our La Chureca Christmas Piñata Party which will take place this coming December. Last year her efforts provided school supplies, food, sports equipment, stuffed animals, toys, and musical instruments for nearly 200 of the children attending Escuela de Esperanza. This year, she is telling the story of La Chureca again, hoping that more local physicians and medical groups will be drawn to it and help multiply her efforts!

Find out ways you can get involved...

Love Light & Melody's board has recently returned from its first meeting in Managua, Nicaragua this past August.

Several of us stayed in Nicaragua for two weeks, so we were able to spend a lot of time inside the La Chureca community, developing a clearer picture of the daily life and struggle there. We have certainly returned from this experience with a refined sense as to who we are and our place in the fight for all of the beautiful families that live inside the trash dump. It was such a joy to have time to meet more of the kids there, and to develop a greater vision as to the role of arts, learning, and sports for the little ones in that community.

We were also a part of the first official La Chureca meeting in Managua, where all of the nonprofit and humanitarian organizations involved in the dump came together to meet and share their perspectives. It was pretty overwhelming and humbling to see how many people were joined together that day, from many different countries and walks of life, all with the same purpose and passion!

We're excited to share more of this adventure with you. As we move out of our infancy and take our first steps, we want to thank you for being there with us!