Free Newsletter
Listen to this article
There will be an Evening to Benefit Friends of Caritas Cubana this Saturday in Lexigton.
The evening’s program, which will benefit the work of the Friends of Caritas Cubana, will feature readings and musical selections from the Cuban and Cuban/American experience, as well as a presentation from local Cuban Americans sharing their observations from recent trips to Cuba. Participating in the performance are award-winning playwright/actor/director Melinda Lopez, writer Ana Hebra Flaster, and musicians Zahili Gonzalez Zamora and Zayra Pola Ocasio.
n 1999, Friends of Caritas Cubana began as a committee of Boston’s Catholic Charities to assist Caritas Cuba’s humanitarian and social service programs. In 2005, Friends of Caritas Cubana spun off and separately incorporated as a Massachusetts-based 501(c)(3).
Since 2005, Friends of Caritas Cubana has provided needed services to the Cuban people – all with transparency to both the U.S. and Cuban Governments. We go to Cuba – at our own expense – at least twice a year to visit programs funded, conduct resource audits, provide technical assistance, and assess needs on the ground.
Caritas Cuba, itself, is a nationwide non-governmental provider of humanitarian, social and emergency services. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and is active in every province of Cuba. While Caritas Cubana serves thousands of needy individuals, its funding is vastly smaller than the needs of the population that Caritas serves.
Services are available to anyone in need, regardless of religion, political beliefs or sexual orientation.
Caritas’ focus in Cuba is to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable citizens: the elderly, children, single mothers, people with disabilities and people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to conducting programs for these populations, Caritas distributes medicines and provides emergency relief as needed. It has few paid staff as it relies mostly on its volunteer force.
Friends of Caritas Cubana Board Member Allene M. Diaz will share stories and images from the organization’s nearly twenty-year-old mission of enhancing the capacity of Caritas Cuba, a nationwide NGO dedicated to providing humanitarian and social service to vulnerable populations, including the elderly, children, young adults with Down syndrome and autism, the disabled and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
The photographs of Andrew Childs and art from Friends of Caritas Cubana’s collection of Cuban artists, all currently on display in First Parish’s art gallery, are available for sale by silent auction.
Lexington playwright Merrill Meadow will moderate a panel discussion of Cubans and Cuban-Americans who will reflect on recent changes in the United States’ relationship with the island nation and life in Cuba today.
The Evening to Benefit Friends of Caritas Cubana will be held Saturday, September 24, 2016 starting @ 7:30 p.m. at the First Parish Church, 7 Harrington Road, Lexington, MA. Admission is free; a small donation of $10 is encouraged.
