2014 Was a Great Year!
This past year of activity for The Emiliani Project was an important year for our growth and our mission. Some highlights include the following: in February 2014 we launched our “Giselle” Coffee, named for Giselle Davia who was rescued from the streets of Medellin. In March we were invited to speak on Immaculate Heart radio, and was featured in the Southern Cross newspaper. In April, we led our missionary trip to Medellin where volunteers from the US and Canada joined in our efforts to support the children.
In May we launched our “Gilberto” dark roast coffee, named for Gilberto Elias Graciano. Special thanks to Parishes throughout Southern California that supported both the packing and the sale of our coffee. In August, three of the children from the Hogar travelled to the US with some volunteers from Colombia, and they experienced much of the fun and adventure which Southern California has to offer. In September we continued to speak at parishes through the dioceses of San Diego, Orange and Baltimore, enabling us to spread awareness of our work and our message. In October and November, The Emiliani Project participated in a number of neighborhood fairs and festivals, selling coffee and raising funds for the children.
Lastly in December, we led our second missionary trip of the year, and volunteers worked with us to help bring some Christmas cheer to the children. Thank you to all our supporters, benefactors and volunteers, and we look forward to continuing to build on our success in 2015.
An Appeal for Volunteers!
As we start this new year, we are actively recruiting volunteers to help forward the work and mission of The Emiliani Project. As you may know, The Emiliani Project is a 100% volunteer-based initiative, and one of the pillars of our organization is to offer people the opportunity to work with us, to directly benefit the children.
There are a number of different ways in which we need your help. First, we need your help to spread the word about our work, and the opportunities we are creating for children both in Colombia as well as here in the US. We need volunteers to help staff our outreach events, where we meet the public, have the opportunity to tell our story, and sample and sell our coffee. We need volunteers to help prepare and pack our coffee, as we source the beans from California, have them roasted locally, and pack them ourselves in our own Emiliani Project branded packaging. We need volunteers to help work in Colombia along-side our volunteer staff. We need volunteers to support us with various ad-hoc projects which come up from time to time.
As you can see – The Emiliani Project takes on much and has accomplished much, but we can’t do any of it without your help. Please consider one of our key service areas, and please sign up at the Join Us page on our website to volunteer. Have questions Reach us at info@emilianiproject.org. You will be richly blessed – and will be a blessing to others.