GET INVOLVED
For more information or to make a donation, call 229-389-5650 or send an e-mail to hlo@lunamusicgroup.com.
FAST FACTS
The towns where the organization works are usually villages with a couple of hundred residents:
Cerro Quebrado
166: Total population
62: Number living in indigenous homes
32: Total houses
24: Households that have a television
3: Households that have a washing machine
2: Residents who have more than an elementary education
Cuartillo Viejo
238: Population
140: Number living in indigenous homes
53: Total houses
6: Households that have a television
0: Households that have a washing machine
6: Residents who have more than an elementary education
Source: www.nuestro-mexic...>
DALTON, Ga. — The sight of an indigenous couple and their child, who traveled for hours down a mountain on Christmas Day to find medicine to soothe a toothache, is what prompted Homero Luna to help the community in his native Mexico.
“Seeing those marginalized communities where people don’t have anything to eat, where people are in desperate need, is what made me want to come back and help,” said the Dalton business owner who recently traveled to the Huasteca Potosina. The region in northern Mexico spans more than six states, including San Luis Potosí, Mr. Luna’s home state.
One of Mr. Luna’s brothers, attorney Benjamín Luna Ocejo, founded the organization Fuerza Unida, or United Force, last year. The goal is to raise funds to provide food and other basic needs for communities facing great poverty, Mr. Luna Ocejo wrote in an e-mail.
“Our objective is to help the most vulnerable families in our community who a lot of times don’t even have something to eat or to wear,” he wrote.
The foundation now has more than 80 members. Besides the Luna brothers in Dalton and another San Luis Potosí native in Oklahoma, most are young professionals in San Luis Potosí.
Members hope eventually to build community centers in some of the villages, giving people better access to doctors and food, said Mr. Luna, but it is imperative that more people get involved.
Mr. Luna is director and his brother David is vice president of the record label Luna Musik Group. The two want to coordinate local aid for the villages and publicize their problems.
David Luna said the business will donate a percentage of record sale proceeds to help the organization.
“I know times are tough for everyone, people are worried about being able to pay their bills,” said Homero Luna. “But what I’ve seen in Mexico is that people worry about being able to put food on their child’s plate.”
The last few years have been even tougher because of the recession, he said.
“As people lose their jobs (here), they stop sending money or even start returning to Mexico,” he said.
People can contribute with clothes, shoes, canned goods, toys or money.
“The main goal is to improve, even if it’s a little, the lives of these marginalized people,” he said.
Perla Trevizo joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2007 and covers immigration/diversity issues and higher education. She holds a master’s degree in newswire journalism from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas. She was selected as an International Reporting Fellow by the International Center for Journalists and in 2009 received an honorable mention for her story “Families Broken Apart” from the Tennessee ...
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