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Leelanau locals plant seeds, grow cultural exchanges in Guatemala

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Twenty years ago, when Paul Sutherland joined the board of Safe Passage, which launched a school for the children of the Guatemala City garbage dump, he also helped kickstart what has become a dynamic and ongoing relationship between Leelanau County citizens and Guatemala. In the decades since then, local schools have sent students, and teams of volunteers have joined cultural exchange trips to the beautiful, yet economically unequal, Central American nation. Since the COVID-19 pandemic abated, Guatemalan nonprofit Planting Seeds has hosted “service learning” groups from Northwestern Michigan College as well as Leelanau Investing for Teens (LIFT) and Leland High School. Planting Seeds co-director and Illinois native Mac Philips will visit Leelanau County this weekend to raise awareness about the nonprofit and build support in northern Michigan. He’ll visit Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate on Saturday, Suttons Bay Congregational Church on Sunday, and students in Suttons Bay and Leland.

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Northport Summer Writers’ Series examines Social Justice: Past, Present, and Future

The Friends of the Leelanau Township Library Summer Writers’ Series this year examines the theme, “Social Justice: Past, Present, and Future.” All events are held at 7 pm at the beautiful Willowbrook Mill in Northport. The series’ second event on July 18 will feature Glen Arbor Sun editor and author Jacob Wheeler whose book, “Angel of the Garbage Dump: How Hanley Denning Changed the World, One Child at a Time,” is required reading for anyone who feels the call to serve humanity through social justice.

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Glen Lake Library hosts Wheeler reading “Angel of the Garbage Dump”

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Local author and Glen Arbor Sun editor and publisher Jacob Wheeler will share his new book Angel of the Garbage Dump on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7 pm at the Glen Lake Community Library in Empire. This moving profile documents the work of Hanley Denning, a young woman from Maine who dedicated her life to humanitarian projects in Guatemala.

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Garbage Dump Angel

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Editor/publisher of the Glen Arbor Sun, Jacob Wheeler has written a new book titled “Angel of the Garbage Dump: How Hanley Denning Changed the World, One Child at a Time” (Mission Point Press), which recounts how a young woman from Maine launched a school in the hovels of the Guatemala City garbage dump and helped pull thousands of children out of the teeming filth of one of the largest urban landfills in the Americas. Join Wheeler for any of the following upcoming readings in Leelanau County: Suttons Bay Library (with Bay Books), Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 6 pm; Glen Arbor Arts Center (with fellow author Anne-Marie Oomen) Saturday, Nov. 26, at 11 am, and Glen Lake Library in Empire (with Cottage Book Shop), Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7 pm.

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How Leelanau locals equipped Guatemalan first responders

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There is no real government support for Guatemala’s first responders. When they’re not on a fire or ambulance call, they are out in the streets getting donations in coffee cans from passing drivers to fund their meager salaries and minimal equipment. Most of them have to fight fires in jeans and t-shirts. Serious injuries are endemic to their work. When Guatemalan Fredy Maldonado showed Burdickville’s Mike Binsfeld the situation, Binsfeld stepped up the Buckets of Rain commitment to include money for fixing fire station roofs and ambulances, and to provide medicine for the community. Through his efforts and those of Leelanau County resident Kathy Fordyce and her outreach to local firefighters at the Cedar Fire Dept., desperately needed gear is now making its way to Guatemala.

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Safe Passage Fiesta benefits children of Guatemala City garbage dump

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The Great Lakes Friends (GLF) of Safe Passage will hold its eighth annual fiesta on Saturday, Oct. 19, to help the children and families living and working in the area adjacent to the Guatemala City garbage dump. The fiesta celebrates the commitment of the Great Lakes community to Safe Passage’s educational and nurturing programs, which are helping Guatemalan children find a pathway out of generational cycles of extreme poverty.

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FIESTA to Benefit Guatemalan Children

On Oct. 26, Great Lakes Friends will host its seventh annual FIESTA to celebrate our community’s commitment to 550 children of families living in unimaginable poverty at Guatemala City’s garbage dump. Since 2005, Great Lakes Friends has raised nearly $170,000 to support the work of Safe Passage, a nonprofit formed in 1999 to bring hope and opportunity to these children.

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Fiesta supports Guatemalan children

Some of the poorest children in Guatemala City will be the beneficiaries of a special event happening at The Children’s House in Traverse City on Friday, Oct. 14, when Great Lakes Friends of Safe Passage host their sixth annual Fiesta in support of Safe Passage. The local event celebrates our community’s commitment to bring hope and opportunity to more than 550 children of families living in unimaginable poverty at Guatemala City’s garbage dump.

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Great Lakes Friends of Safe Passage host Esperanza 5K Run to benefit Guatemala

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Great Lakes Friends of Safe Passage will sponsor the second annual Esperanza 5K run on Aug. 13 at 10 a.m. (registration at 9) at the Grand Traverse Commons in Traverse City. “Esperanza” is the Spanish word for “hope”. Safe Passage is an internationally recognized nonprofit dedicated to bringing hope and opportunity to children of the Guatemala City garbage dump community.

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