Historically, RRUUC supported Central American immigrants and citizens of El Salvador after the civil conflicts in that region. For many years, the Latin American Task Network (LATN) carried out fundraising actions to aid Santa Marta, a post-conflict town in El Salvador near the Honduran border. RRUUC for many years sent teen delegations to visit Santa Marta and key conflict history sites in El Salvador to raise awareness about the impact of that civil conflict and assist the community.

LATN also partners with Salvadorans living in the DC area and supports events of their association, COTSA. We have used sales of fair-trade products to help fund scholarships for immigrants at DC’s Carlos Rosario school. We also funded university scholarships for students from Santa Marta, El Salvador attending university in that country. For many years, LATN organized a Fiesta fundraising event at RRUUC to raise funds for Santa Marta’s needs such as these scholarships and also to raise awareness at RRUUC about Latine culture.

LATN has long coordinated financial donations by RRUUC to La Clinica del Pueblo, most recently through share-the-plate collections. It works with many other organizations, such as UUSC, to improve conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean and heighten awareness of humanitarian needs in countries affected by disasters and civil strife.

For more information or to get involved, contact Don Chery at DChery@aol.com.