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<div>**FUNDRAISING UPDATE**

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<div>$1,390.00 towards our goal! Thank you for the support… Every bit counts please help how you can, anything greatly accepted!

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<div>This is about the place Patricia was born in the South of Brazil. Catastrophic flooding led almost 180,000 people displaced or homeless…

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<div><span>My husband Paul started the "Go Fund Me" in order to minimize the suffering of so many families. Many have lost all they possessed. Their homes, their jobs, their ability to recostruct their lives. Every single donation counts. A community kitchen that used to feed a great amount of people in need, even before this tragedy, was coverd by water. All the appliances lost.</span>

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<div> We are launching a GoFundMe effort to assist a specific <span>grass-roots organization... </span>

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<div><span>It's called "Barriguinha Cheia".</span>

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<div>Why? Please read below.


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<div>Help if you can, and if you would share this link.


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<div>Thank you.


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<div>Heavy rain began falling in Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil on April 24 2024 and lasted beyond May 4. This was caused by large negative cyclonic activity during a La Nina climate pattern year, and an unusual atmospheric block. An unbelievable amount of precipitation has been recorded, producing drenching storms, swollen rivers, hail, landslides, and suffering.


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<div>On May 2, the 14 de Julho Dam near Bento Goncalves collapsed, sending a wave of water over 6 feet tall downstream, inundating nearly all in it's path and causing Rio Grande do Sul's Governor to declare a state of emergency and order evacuations.


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<div><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68948239" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68948239" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68948239</a></a>


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<div>The waters of Lake Guaiba rose over 17 feet, nothing prepared could have contained this amount of water. Dikes, barriers and pumps failed, releasing the lake into the Capital City of Porto Alegre. Surrounding municipalities (471) were also badly affected by the swelling and breaching of local tributary rivers and have affected a population in excess of 2.345 million souls. Many are injured or have died, some are still missing, and an estimated 582 thousand people are still displaced.


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<div><a href="https://estado.rs.gov.br/defesa-civil-atualiza-balanco-das-enchentes-no-rs-29-5-9h" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://estado.rs.gov.br/defesa-civil-atualiza-balanco-das-enchentes-no-rs-29-5-9h</a>


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<div>The region's international airport Salgado Filho is badly damaged and will remain closed indefinitely. 


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<div><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cle07g0zzqeo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cle07g0zzqeo" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cle07g0zzqeo</a></a>


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<div>Here is what happened to our hometown....


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<div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxXctUcmxw0" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxXctUcmxw0</a>


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<div>We love São Leopoldo and will do what we can to help our family, friends and neighbors endure and recover from this tragic event. Imagine your cousins, schoolmates, your brothers and sisters, cutting holes in their ceilings to escape the rising water and thus survive by perching on the roof, awaiting rescue and evacuation from their apartments by boat through the second floor windows. All roads into your town are blocked and you have no food, water or electricity. All of your belongings are ruined, you are cold, wet and hungry. 75% of your neighbors are similarly affected. The city has survived to date through luck, mutual assistance, and resilience. Coordinated responses have begun, yet the long-term repairs must be considered.


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<div>We have already begun sending re-building assistance to the worthy project "Barriguinha Cheia".


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<div>(they are real), and part of the project


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<div>"São Léo More Food on the Plate".


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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/80747163_1718402035231626_r.png" width="100%" />


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<div><a href="https://berlinda.com.br/2024/01/19/cerca-de-52-mil-pessoas-vivem-em-situacao-de-pobreza-em-sao-leopoldo/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://berlinda.com.br/2024/01/19/cerca-de-52-mil-pessoas-vivem-em-situacao-de-pobreza-em-sao-leopoldo/</a>


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<div>These are caring people providing healthy hot meals to mothers and children in one of the city's less privileged areas, with a proven record of simply helping those who hunger, without bureaucracy and administrative wastes. These are people who donate their time and resources, roll up their sleeves and cook and distribute meals to help nourish people. We won't allow them to become lost in the crisis and believe that we can help 


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<div>real people help others to survive, rebuild, and contribute to healing our hometowns.


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<div>Thanks again very much.


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<div>*Note*


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<div>Because Brazil is un-supported by GOFUNDME…. I will make all paypal disbursements to the recipients and provide you proof of transactions.


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Agnes  Bellet

Patricia Matzenbacher

Saulo de la Rue

Joseph Hudak

Anonymous

Ciar McKinley

Leonardo Schneider

Mary Ann Couch

Gloriana Roig

paul hopper

Barriguinha Cheia: Aid for Brazil's Flood Victims

Barriguinha Cheia: Aid for Brazil's Flood Victims

Still $8,160 to go. Help us build momentum.