On the 5 and 6 of April Maria O’Sullivan organised a bake sale in her local parish to raise funds for the Youth Project in Argentina she’ll take part in this July. “At first the thought was pretty daunting, but I was surprised at just how many people offered to help,” she said.

For weeks Maria’s mum together with many helpers, had been baking cakes and had spread the news all around the neighbourhood. It was a great chance to be able to tell people something more about the project and the fact  that Maria would be participating herself gave neighbours an extra motivation to role up their sleeves and help out.

Luckily the two days were so lovely that the sale could be to set up outside the church where the cakes would be sold.

During the mass after communion Maria went up and spoke to all the parishioners about Project she’d take part in: a chance to build strong communications and go beyond cultural barriers as well as helping out sick children and renovating schools in poor areas of Paraguay.

Ending with the line:  “I know it’s Lent but I hope for this once you can make an exception and I hope Fr  Behan can make an exception too” she got everyone to put an extra smile on their faces.

After the three masses at which Maria spoke the sale started and in only a short while all the cakes were sold. “I really felt I was part of the local community doing this and I found myself really enjoying the experience.” says Maria. “My parish was extremely generous in their donations and now not only have I got one step closer to Argentina financially, but I also feel I’m physically and mentally more prepared for this trip.”