Young Volunteer Combines Theater and Community Service at Poly Prep
/
The price of admission to Poly Prep’s Middle School musical Grease, which was performed May 11 and 12, was backpacks, school supplies, and books in Spanish, which will be sent to children in Tipitapa, Nicaragua.
It was seventh-grader Luke Asente, who played Eugene in the musical, who suggested the nonprofit Sister City organization Dos Pueblos as the beneficiary of the musical.
Asente shared with the school that his mother, Monique Luchetti, is good friends with the Executive Director of Dos Pueblos, Lupe Ramsey, and that his whole family had joined Lupe and Dos Pueblos on a delegation to Nicaragua in January 2011.
When Asente visited Tipitapa with his family in 2011, he was the first and only youngster to travel with the 15-person delegation, and he said he was “astounded” at what he saw. His mom had the same reaction. “We were blown away by the poverty we witnessed in these small villages,” Luchetti said. “And also by the incredible Nicaraguan people and the strong, generous, community leaders we met. People are hungry, social services are non-existent, there is no infrastructure, no stores or businesses, dogs are starving and children are growing up in the worst of circumstances.” But it is certainly not a place with hope, she says, “Despite all this, the community leaders working there with the help of Dos Pueblos are able to change lives and make a difference to the people living in Tipitapa every day.”
