U.S., Catholic Relief Services send first flight in $100M Cuba aid effort
Caroline MolloyThe first flight under the U.S. State Department’s new $100 million aid commitment to the Cuban people departed July 21 in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), according to a July 21 department press release.
The flight carried prepackaged food and hygiene kits for as many as 700 Cuban families — assistance intended for Cubans suffering because of what the department described as the communist government’s “kleptocracy, brutality, and economic incompetence.”
Jeremy Lewin, the department’s senior official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairsg, and religious freedom, joined CRS July 21 in Miami to send off the flight. Viviana Bovo, a senior adviser in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, also attended.
CRS will work with the Catholic Church and Caritas Cuba to distribute the supplies through local parish representatives on the island, according to the release.
