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The Project for the People of Paraguay (PPP) staff and  volunteers under the
supervision of George Herda, spent one year collecting,
sorting, packing and palletizing 155 pallets of donated humanitarian goods. Six 40-foot
semi trailers transported the cargo to the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport
where the 934th Airlift Wing, under the direction of Mike Dressen, palletized the cargo
for the C-5 Galaxy. The cargo was then flown to Asuncion, Paraguay by a volunteer flight
crew from Westover Air Force Base (Chicopee,  MA), where it arrived on January 9th, 1997. This was the second time the U.S. Air
Force Reserve, 439th Airlift Wing had volunteered their time and efforts.
Transportation for the shipment was donated by and coordinated through
the U.S. Department of State / Department of Defense / Aid to International Development
(A.I.D.) Denton Program which provides free airlift of humanitarian goods to third World
countries. 
New and used clothing, medical and dental equipment, school supplies,
sewing machines, dehydrated food and other miscellaneous donations were collected over a
year's time and distributed to thirteen different non-profit organizations in Paraguay.
Honorable mention goes to these volunteers who have spent hours
coordinating a shipment of this magnitude:
 | Budde Trucking and the Budde Family in Avon, MN. PPP would be lost
without their cooperation and donation of warehouse space and heavy equipment. |
| Bill Pochardt from Sioux Falls, SD for donating $400,000 of beautiful
medical equipment. |
| Calvin Thompson Family who collected and delivered tons of donated
merchandise. |
| George Herda of Albany, MN, the PPP Shipment and Warehouse Director.
George has traveled to Paraguay in 1996 and 1997 to supervise the distribution. |
| Gene Hanauska (Albany, MN), shipment and warehouse volunteer. Gene
traveled to Paraguay in 1997 to assist distribution and also met his sponsored child.
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| Walter Durch and Heidi Meyer, coordinators with the Denton Program.
Mike Dressen and his crew at the 439th Air Force Reserves from Westover Air Force Base.
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| Javier Serrati, who located and secured a warehouse in Paraguay.
Maria Lila Fieitas, owner of the warehouse in Asuncion, who donated the space for PPP use.
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| Anibal Fadlala for the many hours that he spent as legal consignee
acquiring duty-free clearance and port authority clearance. |
| Maria Antonia Castillo, PPP Paraguay Director, organized the entire
volunteer crew consisting of her family and sponsored children and their parents. |
| Neighbors Helping Neighbors in North Branch, MN, the Thrift Shop in
Princeton, MN and the Mother Seaton Thrift Shop in Albany, MN and their volunteers for
sorting and packing tons of clothing. |
| Karen Kmitch, Coordinator of the PPP Sponsorship Program deserves
everyone's thanks for her many volunteer hours. Karen and her husband Mike have two
adopted daughters from Paraguay. |
How can I help?
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