GIVING
The secret to living is giving.
Our work in real estate also supports Una Luz, a school and community kitchen in Cartagena. We want to share the people and purpose behind it.
Since 2021, we have run a school and community kitchen where 32 children have a safe place to learn and receive a hot meal. The kitchen also prepares about 100 community meals each day for elders and pregnant women without financial or emotional support. Our 2027 vision is a larger home where we can welcome the 250 children on our waiting list and prepare up to 500 meals a day with dignity and care.
WHY IT MATTERS
Faith, hope, and joy belong in the work.
Alejandro Duque
We believe the secret to living is giving. My wife, Mariela, and I co-founded Una Luz Foundation, a registered U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit, as our family’s passion project. Our dream is a community kitchen and school for children and elders who need a little more help. It is one way we hope to use what we earn to support other families.
We were fortunate to meet a local group of women who had the same dream for their community. Maricel Marmolejo Salinas leads the Colombian organization, school, and kitchen. After two years of planning, together we opened the doors. We want our daughters to grow up seeing that their work can open a door for another child or another person in need. We do not ask clients to donate. We share Una Luz because it is part of who we are and because our work together reaches more families than you may realize.
TODAY AND OUR 2027 VISION
We want to make room for the children still waiting.
The school is full. The next home keeps the same purpose and opens the door to more children, elders, and families.
THE SCHOOL TODAY · 2026
32
children learning in a safe place
About 100
community meals prepared each day
OUR 2027 VISION
250
children the new school can welcome
500
meals the new kitchen can prepare each day
We are grateful for the volunteers, teachers, and cooks who make this possible.