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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The Container Project - Providing Goods for the Poor of Chimbote

For the past eight years, volunteers from St. Michael's Parish in Prior Lake, MN, and the Chanhassen, MN Rotary Club have teamed up to deliver cargo containers of goods from Minnesota to Fr. Jack's Mission in Chimbote.  Co-chaired by Sue Leahy and Tony & Dorothy Brama, this collaboration working with Earl Milbrath of Chanhassen Rotary has sent a total of 16 semi-trailer sized containers (40'x9'x10'), providing nearly $4 million dollars of much needed equipment and supplies to the poor of Chimbote.

Each year's effort begins with wish lists from the ministries in Chimbote.  St. Michael's volunteers then network to fulfill the wishes, contacting sources, following up leads, and even rescuing valuable goods from the dumpster.  When "packing time" arrives, volunteers work in a donated Twin Cities warehouse (Thank you, Karl Bohn!) as the items are delivered.  All goods are sorted, certified clean, itemized in a shipping manifest (which is translated into Spanish), boxed and labeled, crated (in crates built by volunteers), and loaded into the containers.  All work is completed by a diverse group of volunteers—families, retirees, teens—who relish the camaraderie as they provide over 1,200 hours of assistance year after year.

In 2008, the Chanhassen Rotary Club provided nearly $20,000 for transportation costs of the two containers, and Los Amigos picked up the remaining $2,500.  The containers are sent for fumigating—a requirement of international shipping—and then trucked to a rail line and sent to either the East or West Coast, where they are loaded on a ship.  Meanwhile, nearly 80 pages of paperwork are forwarded to the Peruvian Consulate in Chicago.  Once the Consulate has approved and stamped every page, a volunteer traveling to Chimbote hand carries the documents to Peru.  In Lima, Leonardo Boltadano Polo takes charge of the "red tape shuffle," patiently guiding the documents through many government offices, finally securing the release of the shipment.  The containers are then trucked 250 miles, an eight hour trip, to the mission gates in Chimbote, where workers and visitors unload and distribute the goods.

On a budget of $0 (no, that's not a typo), St. Michael's has sent such medical equipment as X-ray & ultrasound machines, hospital beds and supplies (all screened for suitability in Chimbote), school supplies including desks & chairs, and even a 15-passenger van.  With the help of Bob Schmitt and Minneapolis' Courage Center, they have sent 120 power wheelchairs, all with brand new batteries (no mean feat). How is all of this done on what the co-chair calls "seat of the pants funding"?  By the grace of God.  It is also done through the inspiration of Los Amigos supporters.  For example, in 2007, a group from Fargo, ND visiting Chimbote decided that the mission needed an electric car.  They returned to the U.S., drummed up support in their hometown, and provided a 4-passenger electric car for the next shipment.  

Completed entirely by volunteers, the container project is truly a labor of love.