We are very proud of Lucero, pictured here in her cap and gown. She recently graduated from college with a degree in business administration – a huge accomplishment for a young girl growing up in the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico.
Lucero, now 23 years old, started coming to the Lord’s Food Bank when she was 13. Just about to enter high school, she and her family requested help with tuition. Lucero is the 8th of 9 children, and Lucero’s parents were struggling to make ends meet. We have a scholarship fund thanks to a generous benefactor, and so we paid Lucero’s fees for school.
Grateful for the opportunity to continue her education, Lucero applied herself to her studies and got consistently good grades. She also began helping with our catechism program preparing children for their First Communion and fellow teens for confirmation. Now she is in charge of the program.
When she graduated from high school, Lucero expressed her interest in going on to college, and we encouraged her to pursue her dream. She got accepted to a four-year university, and we continued to help her with her expenses.
After receiving her diploma from college, she came to the Food Bank in her cap and gown so we could all share with her in her joy. “I’m so happy and grateful,” she said, thanking us. Her mom Lupe chimed in, “It would have been impossible without the community’s help for her father and me to give Lucero the education she longed for.”
Lucero is a wonderful role model for the other children who live in this very poor area – including her younger sister, Lizeth, who is following her older sister’s example and is now going to college, too.