Join us for an evening of community, music, and impact as we come together to support Heart-Links’ partners and projects in Peru.

Enjoy live music by Los Freakies, browse our silent auction, and indulge in sweet treats (alfajoras!) and refreshments (wine, beer, non-alchoholic) while connecting with friends old and new.

During the evening, we will also share highlights and reflections from our November 2025 visit with our partner organizations in the Cajamarca, Chiclayo, and Zaña Valley, giving you a closer look at the communities and initiatives your support makes possible.

When: Thursday, March 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM EST

Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, ON

Proceeds from this FREE-ADMISSION event help strengthen education, community health, and economic opportunities for families and vulnerable populations in Peru. Register HERE.

DO YOU WANT TO HELP SHARE THE LOVE?

There are many ways to get involved.

• Join us on March 12. Register HERE.
• Donate a silent auction prize. If you have an item or service you’d like to donate, contact info@heart-links.org or phone 226-884-2845 to arrange delivery or pick-up.
• Own a business? Consider sponsoring our event. Contact info@heart-links.org or phone 226-884-2845 for more information.
• Invite a friend.
• SPREAD THE WORD!

Celebrate, connect, and help create a more just and compassionate world. Your support makes this work possible — thank you for sharing the love.

= A FABULOUS WAY TO BRIGHTEN YOUR FEBRUARY

= SHARE THE LOVE 2024

Join us this February 8 for Share the Love IN PERSON!

This FREE ADMISSION musical fiesta and fundraiser features Peruvian and Latin American music by Freddy Almarza and Peruvian and Latin American desserts.

Our silent auction brings together fashionwear by Carmina Young! small batch Canadian-made horseradish by Dennis’ Horseradish! tickets to the London Knights! and so much more. We have handcrafted Peruvian treasures, too.

You’ll hear about our recent visit with our partners and the projects Heart-Links funds in Peru. Revenues from this evening will help keep those community-led projects going in 2024.

(Maybe you’re thinking about joining our trip to Peru this summer. Learn more at Share the Love!)

When: Thursday, February 8, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM 

Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, Ontario (register here for free)

Program:

• 7:00 pm Doors Open, Silent Auction Starts
• 7:10 pm  Welcome Message
• 7:20 pm Music by Freddy Almarza
• 7:40 pm Words and Images about Projects in Peru
• 8:00 pm Music by Freddy Almarza
• 8:20 pm Final Bidding
• 8:30 pm Silent Auction Closes

DO YOU WANT TO HELP SHARE THE LOVE?

• Join us on February 8 (register for free here).
• Make a donation to Heart-Links.
• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn and share our posts.
• SPREAD THE WORD!

When: Thursday, February 8, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM

Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, Ontario

Join us to hear stories from our recent visit to Peru—the first in 4 years! Meet up with friends old and new. There’ll be a silent auction and food, too. Freddy has added some Peruvian tunes to his repetoire, so don’t miss out.

Proceeds from this FREE-ADMISSION event will go to supporting community-led projects in northern Peru in the areas of education, leadership, health & wellness, sustainable communities and Indigenous & cultural rights.

DO YOU WANT TO HELP SHARE THE LOVE?

There are many ways to get involved.

• Join us on February 8 and bring your friends (registration link to come).
• Donate a silent auction prize. If you have an item or service you’d like to donate, contact info@heart-links.org before January 25.
• Own a business? Consider sponsoring our event. Contact info@heart-links.org for more information.
• SPREAD THE WORD!

To help you get ready, we wanted to let you know about a very special initiative Heart-Links is taking part in this giving season: the 24 GOOD DEEDS charity advent calendar.

• For just $24 you can support 24 projects around the world
• All projects are implemented by registered Canadian charities
• Order one for yourself or as a meaningful gift (you can add a personalized message)
• Available as a 3D physical calendar and as a digital version

Pssst! One of the projects is run by Heart-Links’ partner Madre Oliva Association.

Here’s how the calendar works: On December 1st, open door number one. The next day, door number two. Behind each door you’ll learn what you donation is achieving. More information about each project will be available on the 24GoodDeeds website.

This holiday season, join us in making the world a better place, one GOOD DEED at a time.

When: Thursday, February 10, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM EST

Where: Zoom Webinar (registration link to come)

Special Guests:

• Lola Paredes, of Rural Libraries Network (from Cajamarca)
• Flor Reaño, of Latidos (from the Zaña Valley)
• Erla Hoyos, of Centro Santa Angela (from José Leonardo Ortiz, Chiclayo)

Proceeds from this FREE-ADMISSION virtual event will go to supporting the work of these and our other three Peruvian partner organizations in the coming year.

DO YOU WANT TO HELP SHARE THE LOVE?

There are many ways to get involved.

• Join us on February 10. Visit this EVENT page to register (registration link to come).
• Visit our online silent auction. Auction goes live February 3.
• Donate a silent auction prize. If you have an item or service you’d like to donate, contact info@heart-links.org
• Own a business? Consider sponsoring our event. Contact info@heart-links.org for more information.
• SPREAD THE WORD!

Rob has clocked more than 34 km so far and he’s still hoping to reach his goal of 125 km by month’s end. Can you cheer Rob on by making a donation?

“I help out with Heart-Links because of its local roots,” he says. “When I was looking to help with something in my spare time, I discovered the organization and have done what I can for just over a year and a half now.”

Rob has called London, Ontario, home for over twenty years. He lives in Oakridge with his wife, Kristin, and their nine-year-old daughter, Stella. He works in gastroenterology, and in his spare time, he enjoys music and fitness. 

“Using my runs to help create awareness for this incredible local organization while also holding myself accountable to keep moving is a great marriage!” he says. 

In other words, Rob is somebody who wants to do his part to create a more just world. As Rob says, “We have a lot to be thankful for . . . so why not give back and send a few dollars to those less fortunate?!”

Every little bit counts, so consider making your donation to Heart-Links today.

Thank you, Rob, for your dedication. And good luck with the rest of your run!

P.S. You can follow Rob on Instagram (@rjcrate) for updates.

*banner photo by Hans Splinter under this creative commons license

Maria Saclupe has a dream: to raise chickens to help feed her family and increase their earnings.

Maria lives in San Isidro with her three children and her husband. Working together with other families in the community, they grow vegetables and raise guinea pigs and chickens. But they need incubators and chicken coops to get their chicken business off the ground. Will you help Maria and her family get through this pandemic by making a donation today?

Maria is one of many hard-working mothers in San Isidro who are trying to improve the lives of their families. In 2017, el Niño devastated her community. “The water washed away almost everything we had,” she says. “The community had many needs but no support from the government.”

Heart-Links donors worked with Centro Esperanza to rebuild the community well and set up a new irrigation system. The project provided training in sustainable farming methods, paid the legal fees for incorporation and supplied the first laying hens.

Donors to Heart-Links were there for Maria and the people of San Isidro after the 2017 floods. Will you be there for them now?

COVID-19 has brought its own challenges. Maria’s husband used to work as a day labourer on farms outside their community. But travel is not permitted right now, so he is unemployed. Maria is not giving up. But she needs your help.

“The laying hens and other supports Heart-Links have given me have helped me,” she says. “I sell eggs to support my family . . . The incubators and chicken coops will let us increase the number of chickens and more money will enter our home. It motivates me to work to help with our family expenses and improve our lives.”

Donations to Heart-Links not only help with this project but also with other community-driven projects we support in northern Peru. Your kindness makes it possible for us to help many families like Maria’s.

In San Isidro, those donations go a long, long way. Just $2.13 a day can make a family’s dream of growing their chicken business come true.

And that’s not all. “Because of the training we receive, we’ve learned how to organize, which makes us eligible to receive support from other institutions,” Maria says. And because of that training, Maria and two other women now form part of the cooperative’s executive committee.

The people of San Isidro are committed to sharing with families who do not form part of their cooperative, too. That’s why each participant has pledged to donate five of the laying hens they raise to other impoverished families in the district.

“Emotionally, I’m given hope that my life can change with this support,” Maria says.

Help change Maria’s life. Help make a dream come true. Donate today.

You can help Maria’s family get through this pandemic. Just $2.13 a day can help her grow her chicken business. Your donation of $63.90 could help Maria’s or another family for an entire month!

• No poverty
• Zero Hunger
• Good Health and Well-being
• Quality Education
• Gender Equality
• Sustainable Cities and Communities
• Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

To celebrate, Heart-Links is taking part in a host of #IDW2021 activities, and starting today, you can, too! Here’s what’s on our calendar:

SUNDAY

Bidding is open now at our Share the Love @ Home online silent auction. Win spectacular prizes and support Heart-Links projects in Peru. It’s a win-win. Auction closes end of day Friday.
START BIDDING HERE

If you speak Spanish, tune in at 4 p.m. today to Radio Western’s La Voz Hispana (94.9FM) to hear Heart-Links chat with guest host José Merino about why international cooperation is important.

MONDAY

The Ontario Council of International Cooperation’s multimedia storytelling initiative Tapestry 2030 launches in the wee hours Monday morning. First up in this series focused on the future of international cooperation and global solidarity is Bhutan Canada Foundation and a conversation about Building Sustainable Tourism in Bhutan. Subscribe to the series here or here or anywhere else you listen to podcasts so you can also catch Heart-Links’ episode when it airs later this week.

If you want to learn more about the series and the multimedia artists and organizations involved, join us and other OCIC members at 12 noon for a lunchtime launch event.
LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

THURSDAY

Listen to Tapestry 2030 to hear Heart-Links chat with Erla Hoyos, of Centro Santa Angela, about Leadership in Action in Peru. The episode airs at midnight here and here and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. (Don’t forget to subscribe so you can hear two episodes a week all the way to International Women’s Day.)

FRIDAY

It’s finally here! Share the Love @ Home starts on zoom webinar at 7 p.m. sharp.
REGISTER FREE HERE

For the first time ever, our partners in Peru will join us for our annual free-admission fiesta: Delicia Romero and Cecilia Odar, of Madre Oliva Association will speak to us from Zaña; Isabel Gutiérrez, of ACIES, will join from Cajamarca, and Fely Ramírez from Centro Esperanza in Chiclayo will take part, too. All four women will speak about the difficult year just past and the needs their organizations hope to address in 2021 as Peru faces the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Live from Zaña, Yim Rodríguez will enchant with Afro-Peruvian music from the region. Both musician and visual artist, Yim is best known in London for painting the mural that graces King’s University library.

This is also the last day for bidding in our online silent auction. Get those bids in—or make a donation. We can get involved and help make this a more just world. Our silent auction closes when the clock strikes 12.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WEEK,
FROM HEART-LINKS TO YOU!

At the end of a very hard 2020, our partner ACIES spread their message of hope and solidarity not only within the Indigenous communities where they work but all the way to Canada.

They sent us holiday greetings from Pomabamba and ushered in the new year with greetings from Quiritimayo. We would like to share those greetings with you.

ACIES offers Indigenous children and adults programs that help improve their quality of life and their levels of education through personal and community development. ACIES runs the Alternative Campesino School in the rural community of Pomobamba and an afterschool program of alternative education in the urban neighbourhood of Quiritimayo. Members of ACIES are volunteers—students and professionals—from a range of disciplines.

Would you like to learn more about ACIES and the work Heart-Links supports in Cajamarca? Join us at Share the Love @ Home and meet ACIES director Isabel Gutiérrez, who will tell us more about her organization and the people they work with.

REGISTER HERE

Share the Love @ Home will take place online on Friday, February 12 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
REGISTER HERE

This is a FREE-ADMISSION event.

Join us for a visual and musical introduction to the communities Heart-Links works with in northern Peru. Hear straight from our partner organizations Madre Oliva Association, ACIES and Centro Esperanza about the locally driven development projects Heart-Links supports in their communities (simultaneous interpretation will be provided). Learn how you can help, too. To round out the evening, the multitalented Yim Rodríguez will enchant with Afro-Peruvian music performed live from Zaña.

To help us raise the funds needed to keep the projects in Peru going, don’t forget to visit our online silent auction. From Februrary 7 to 12 you can bid on a host of exciting prizes, ranging from gift certificates for Venezuelan eatery Arepa Ink, to an oil change and detailing by Finch Automotive to select fashions by local designer Carmina de Young. 

Heart-Links is very grateful to the many local businesses that have shown their commitment to community by donating auction prizes.

Access the silent auction from our event page starting February 7.

Travel to Peru may not be possible for the rest of 2021. But Share the Love @ Home is the next best thing to being there.

Don’t miss out!

Share the Love @ Home is just one of the initiatives Heart-Links has planned for International Development Week (Feb. 7–13). Stay tuned for more exciting ways you can celebrate global solidarity with us.