Humanitarian Aid: A Coffee Celebration

For the second time within a year, the Peklo family organized a successful fundraiser in honor of their children. On a recent Sunday morning, Abby and Andrew Peklo hosted "A Coffee Celebration" at their historic home in Woodbury, in recognition of their son Zeke's second birthday. Zeke was born in Guatemala and spent the first year of his life in foster care with a loving family in Guatemala City. "Zeke was so fortunate to be able to stay with a foster family," comments Andrew Peklo, Zeke's father. "He was in such good hands. We wanted to help those orphans who are not so lucky, who spend their infanthoods in an orphanage."

The Peklos raised $751 for Obras del Hermano Pedro, a large childcare facility in Guatemala City that offers hope and supplies to orphans, street children, poor children and children with special needs. They invited a group of friends to A Coffee Celebration at their home, and for a $12 ticket, guests were treated to a champagne brunch and coffee tasting. There were eight coffees to sample, all fair trade, shade grown and organic. Coffee-Tea-Etc. of Goshen provided the coffees and Abby Peklo, Zeke's mother, prepared the food, using wholesome organic ingredients. "Coffee is such an integral part of both of our sons' birth countries," explains Abby. "It seemed like a good theme for a fundraiser."

Naren Sonpal, co-owner of Coffee-tea-Etc., gave a multi-media presentation on the global coffee industry. Naren, who at the age of sixty joined the Peace Corp and volunteered in Guatemala working on coffee farms, explained the importance of purchasing and consuming fair trade, shade grown and organic coffee. He educated the group of thirty guests about how vital family farming and environmentally friendly coffee practices are to millions of people and to the ecosystems of developing countries. Besides its superior taste, Fair Trade certified coffee allows coffee farmers in developing countries to farm their own land and earn a living wage in decent working conditions. Shade grown coffee offers bird and other wildlife the protection of shade trees. Shade trees' environment also give farmers the opportunity to grow coffee beans organically, without the use of pesticides and harmful chemical fertilizers.

Last summer, Abby's thirteen year old son Lee Greenwald raised $2,484 for FANA, the orphanage where he was born in Bogotá, Colombia. As part of his becoming a Bar Mitzvah, Lee was expected to perform a mitzvah - an act of goodness or charity in the community. Lee organized a twenty-four hour nature-athon with six of his friends at Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury. Under the supervision of his stepfather Andrew Peklo and family friend Harry Gerowe of Woodbury, the four boys and two girls volunteered to help stabilize the drainage on the trails and spread wood chips on the walking paths at Flanders. The volunteers were asked to solicit pledges for each hour that they spent in nature, without electricity (meaning no TV or video games!). More than one hundred people pledged one dollar or more per hour. "It started as a challenge," explains Lee. "My mom and I were taking a walk in the woods, and my mom said that I could never spend a whole day enjoying nature because I would rather play video games. I told her that wasn't true, that I could go twenty-four hours in nature without playing video games. The rest is history."

In order to help Lee understand FANA, the Peklo family took a trip to Colombia to see the countryside and visit the orphanage. They spent a day touring the beautiful building and grounds of FANA, which is located in the Bogota suburb of Suba. They met with the children and staff. Elizabeth, the nurse who cared for Lee when he was an infant, reminded him that she changed his diapers thirteen years ago! Lee met with Flor, the social worker who helped with his adoption. She shared his adoption file with him and talked to him about the circumstances of his birth and adoption. Lee watched the children at FANA play and realized how well cared for and loved they are by the staff. Abby, Andrew and Lee also spent time with Andreas, a twenty-one year old medical student who was volunteering at FANA for a month. Andreas was adopted from FANA and raised in Switzerland. Many adopted children who were born at FANA come back to volunteer.

The Peklos toured the Bogota countryside so that Lee could see with is own eyes just how glorious the country is and how beautiful the people are. He saw the expansive flower plantations and learned of their value to the Colombian economy. "We wanted Lee to understand that Colombia is not just the drug and kidnapping capital of the world that the media portrays," explains Abby. "Despite its negative image, it is a paradise." The flower industry is second only to Holland's and is as important as the coffee industry to the Colombian people. The climate is ideal, with sunny warm days and cool evenings. And because of the high altitude, there are very few insects. The city of Bogota has enjoyed a recent surge in development. The Peklos especially enjoyed walking to Oma every afternoon, which is a popular coffee spot. "Oma puts Starbucks to shame," jokes Andrew. "The café con leche is amazing, and to be able to relax in such beautiful surroundings is just wonderful."

The family tradition of fundraising in celebration of happy occasions began when Lee turned one. His parents had a cocktail party fundraiser at their home. Instead of trucks and other toys, they asked guests to contribute $10 to FANA. They raised quite a bit of money and decided that the idea was worth continuing. The Peklos hope that in addition to giving needed dollars to the boys' homelands, they will show their sons by example the importance of generosity and caring for others. They also want their sons to grow up with a sense of pride in their Latin American heritage. "We're not done yet," quips Andrew. "We'll have to think up something new in honor of son number three." The Peklos are in the process of completing another adoption from Guatemala. They hope to bring their newest son home by the end of the year.

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