By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -

HIALEAH | When Alexus Metayer arrived at San Lazaro Church with her classmates from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs School, one of the first things she did was cross language barriers with Jorge Luis Delgado.

“Donde está el ‘garbage’?” Alexus asked as she was about to throw her trash in a nearby black plastic bag.

“I think you mean ‘basura,’” said Delgado in English as he took the trash from her hand. “But that’s pretty good. Thank you for making the effort to speak in Spanish and thank you for being here today with your classmates.”

Alexus’ confusion with the bag is understandable. From April 30 through May 6, the grounds of San Lazaro were filled with dozens of bags, as well as stacked cardboard boxes, chairs, a cozy-looking sofa, toys, appliances and other goods bearing signs of wear and tear.

No matter the condition, they are received with open arms by Father Alejandro Lopez. He takes them back to his community, the San Jose Obrero Foundation in Choluteca, Honduras, where one man’s trash is definitely another man’s treasure.

“I take everything, except your dog and your in-laws,” Father Lopez joked with the chaperones from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs. “The culture of consumption in this country, though, is alarming.”

Fortunately, Catholic social teaching reminds Catholics that they must tend to the poor and those less fortunate than themselves.

After discussing the Beatitudes in her seventh grade religion class at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs School, Donna Salomone’s students felt inspired to give back. They considered a beach cleanup, a canned food drive and a clothing drive for their Lenten service project, but the clothing drive won by majority after a class vote.

Salomone and her students initially thought the recipients of their mass donation would be Goodwill and the Salvation Army. But when someone suggested the San Jose Obrero Foundation the project extended beyond a clothing drive.

Salomone and her students corresponded with Father Lopez, watched documentaries about the region so that they could better understand where their donations were going, and made posters and flyers to get their school and parish involved. Confirmation students and parishioners at St. Jude Chapel in the Schott Communities also participated.

“It makes us feel happy to help others,” said Hannah Wallace, a seventh grader from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs who participated in the project. “We’re ready to work.”

As if collecting 300 bags of clothing were not enough, Salomone and her class personally delivered the bags to Father Lopez at San Lazaro Church May 4.

“This is not a field trip, you’re here to work,” Salomone reminded her students as they formed an assembly line between the U-Haul she rented and the trailer containers heading for Honduras. 

One by one, the students passed the large black contractor bags to each other until they reached the hands of the San Jose Obrero volunteers filling the containers.

“I love this setting,” said Margarita Kiang, a chaperone with the group. “With this hand-on approach they can physically see what they’re doing.” 

Before long, the students filled one of the containers. Students, teachers, chaperones, priests and volunteers cheered. But the work was far from over. The remainder of their bags partially filled another container, as more donations continued to arrive from local parishioners who had heard of Father Lopez’s collection drive.

With the final bag handed over, Our Lady Queen of Martyr students gathered under the vast shade of a nearby tree to rest.

“Saint Joseph is the patron saint of the worker and we just celebrated his feast day,” said Father Jose Espino, pastor of San Lazaro, as he thanked Salomone and her students. “I thank you and ask that you continue praying for Father Alejandro and his mission.”