Ayudando Abrigando
Is a non-profit civil association based in Peru, founded and run entirely by high school students at FDR, The American School of Lima where one of our founders Annabella Alperstein studied elementary.
Their mission is simple: turn something we throw away into something that keeps a family warm.
It starts with plastic bottles. Volunteers collect them, and through a recycling process, transform the plastic into polyester fiber. That fiber is then woven into blankets, ponchos, and socks — practical, durable items built for Peru’s coldest regions.
The deliveries go beyond blankets in a warehouse. Ayudando Abrigando has brought warmth to families in remote Andean communities like Iquicha in Ayacucho, supported an elder care home, delivered relief to a family who lost their home in a fire in Pamplona, and reached schoolchildren across Lima and beyond.
Since they began, Ayudando Abrigando has recycled over 1,680 kilos of plastic bottles into more than 37,000 blankets, 7,900 ponchos, and 4,600 pairs of socks for families in need. Every Wako you buy, every workshop you attend, and every dollar you donate goes to fund many of their campaigns. It’s a partnership between two groups of high school students — one in Montreal, one in Lima — who believe a small group of young people can make a real difference.
more than 37,000 blankets, 7,900 ponchos, and 4,600 pairs of socks for families in need.
