Fundraising by Bianca Dal Bo

Just before lunch, the sun's rays enter the Comedor creating various shadows on all the walls of the room, scattering across the wide space reflecting the silhouettes of those who move within. Jorge slowly brings jugs full of juice to the table, Pato talks to me about music as we chop kilos of onions, Marta and Alma laugh together in their genuine gaiety, Max and Placido stir the soup and tease each other and then hug each other again. There are only a few of us, for now, because those who come here to eat stay to rest in the courtyard, just outside the cafeteria, while inside we carefully prepare for service. Then at noon the big front door opens and the cafeteria suddenly explodes with hungry bodies and bellies. People enter and we all find ourselves enveloped in lives, smells, backpacks, fuentes (food containers), hands, mouths, and glances.

The mornings flow so hectic at the Comedor (canteen) "Nonno Oreste" of the Pope John XXIII Community, that I don't even think about it, some times, the meaning of these colorful daily actions. But today, between chats and the last onions to be cut, I sat back and tried to observe: at the Comedor we offer a hot meal to the most vulnerable people in the area of Peñalolén, here in Santiago, Chile, where I am doing my community service this year. However, the meal is also an opportunity for relationships and sharing for the people who decide to stay here with us, so that a simple canteen also becomes a warm home to which someone often returns feeling protected and at peace.

That is why this fundraiser is precious in our eyes. In the winter season Santiago is subject to heavy rains for which the Comedor's roof is not prepared. In fact, when it rains, the structure tends to flood and it becomes impossible to live in it in a dignified and welcoming way. There is a responsibility in being home and hospitality cannot afford to "take on water." If action is not taken now (or "on the pull," as the Chileans say), before the cold weather arrives, failure to renovate the roof and electrical system (the necessary expense of which is €4,000) could lead to the closure of the facility itself.Every small contribution is therefore one more piece so that the Comedor can continue to be a warm shelter inhabited by hungry mouths, busy hands, constant actions, living shadows full of substance that are reflected every day just before lunch on all the walls of the house.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you give.