Sandy-battered Cuba getting food sent by Miami archdiocese

Posted on Monday, 11.19.12
HURRICANE SANDY

Sandy-battered Cuba getting food sent by Miami archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Miami sent more than 8,000 pounds of food to a
storm-battered region of Cuba on Monday.
By Carli Teproff
cteproff@...

More than 8,000 pounds of powered milk, rice, beans, tuna and canned
sausage were sent to Santiago, Cuba, Monday morning to help people
affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The massive storm that battered the Northeast last month first pummeled
Santiago de Cuba in the southeastern section of the island, leaving many
people homeless, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said.

"The damage in Cuba was tremendous," said Wenski, adding that more than
100,000 homes and at least 13 churches were damaged. "The scale of
destruction is very large."

The small cargo plane was donated by Raul Dube, owner of Miami Air Cargo.

For the past two weeks, the more than 100 parishes in the Archdiocese of
Miami have been collecting money for storm victims in Cuba, the
Caribbean and the Northeast, Wenski said. The archdiocese then bought
food in bulk to send to the island.

The Rev. José Espino, pastor at San Lazaro Catholic Church in Hialeah
and the liaison between the Archdiocese of Miami and Caritas Cuba, said
Monday's delivery was a "drop in the bucket."

"There is a lot of need there," he said, adding that the challenge is
actually shipping goods to the island.

Wenski said he is hoping Monday's shipment of food — which was expected
to get there by Monday afternoon and be distributed by Caritas Cuba and
Daughters of Charity — is just the beginning.

"We are looking at other ways we can help," he said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/19/3105085/sandy-battered-cuba-getting-food.html