Los Amigos is a faith-based organization dedicated to supporting programs that improve and transform the lives of the poor of Chimbote, Peru.

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Read a Story: Gail Severinson’s Creative Donation

In 2002, Gail Severinson was on a drive with her husband near their home in Grand Forks, ND when she saw something pretty and blue by the side of the road—a 1967 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. “When I saw the Karman Ghia, I thought, I’ve got to have that car,” Gail recalls. “I’ve got space in the garage—I’m going to have that car.”

Chatting with the owner, Gail learned it wasn’t just the Karman Ghia in front of her being sold. The owner had another one—a “his and hers” set. “I thought, Whoa,” Gail says. “I’m going to have two cars.” Within a week, both cars were in Gail’s garage.

Fast forward to 2005 to Holy Family Church in Grand Forks. Fr. Phil Ackerman, a longtime friend of Gail’s, was delivering his homily and mentioned his plan to visit a mission in Chimbote, Peru. Gail was fascinated. “I think sometimes we’re all searching,” she says. “In church, when he announced he was going, I thought, I’ve always wanted to go on one (a mission trip). There are just some people that you have such faith and trust in. You know they’ll take you in the right direction. So I just jumped on that opportunity.”

In Chimbote, Gail met Fr. Jack for the first time and witnessed the poverty and need in the area. She also started thinking about all the possessions she’d accumulated in her life and how it compared to what the people of Chimbote have. “You take a look at all the stuff you have but don’t need in your daily life. You know you could live without it, because they do,” Gail says. “They have so little but yet they are probably more full of God than so many of us here who have an abundance of stuff.”

After returning home, Gail shared her story about buying the car with Los Amigos’ executive director, Susan Trnka. Gail wanted to use the car to somehow help the people of Chimbote. The two hatched a plan: they would raffle off the car and all the money would go to fund Los Amigos programs and services. The raffle raised close to $25,000 for Los Amigos programs.

So does Gail miss the car? “My son sure misses the car!” Gail says, laughing. “I’d told him someday I would give him that car. But when I was down in Peru, I thought, I’m not going to make him a better person by giving him that car. We’ll compensate him someday for a promise broken, but I feel better knowing that from that moment of my greed, somebody benefitted.”

Photo: Gail Severinson with new friends in Chimbote.