About PeruKidz

“If we Each do a little, we can All do a lot”

From Our Founders - Jack & Mimi Meier

Welcome to PeruKidz! We’re so pleased you are visiting our site and hope you will stop by often if only to enjoy the smiling faces of the kids we work with.

Mimi and I started this 501c3 in 2005 largely in answer to a promise we had made to the Lord to help those who seemed to be the least in this world. We had traveled to Peru some years earlier to see Mimi’s family. Even though Mimi is from Peru, she hadn’t been back in a long time and what she saw shocked her and me. I’d never seen kids begging for food; never seen parents rent out babies for street vendors to use as a means of generating sympathy; never seen families selling candies in the street at midnight; never seen 12 year old girls drop out of school so they could care for their younger siblings while mom worked selling ice cream for $10 dollar a day. 

So many things broke our hearts and thus our promise, to do whatever we could to help the least of His. Both of us quickly realized that we didn’t want to be a big ministry. Rather we preferred a simpler, smaller hands-on approach where we established personal relationships with the churches and individuals whom the Lord placed in our paths.

God has seen fit to grow our ministry each year, but not so much that we’ve lost touch with our kids and families and churches. Our biggest project is a yearly Christmas program that we coordinate with our partner churches. Each child receives a meal to help fill an empty tummy, a toy for them to enjoy throughout the year, a homemade Christmas card from friends and churches here in the states, and most importantly, a message of love from Jesus Christ to give them hope. When we began in 2005, we ministered to 137 kids. Last year PeruKidz provided Christmas to over 1500 precious children.                                           

We Are Blessed!

Jack & Mimi Meier

If we Each do a Little, we can All do a Lot

Welcome our New Director in Peru

As PeruKidz expands and takes on different responsibilities in Peru, we have found it necessary to increase our staff levels there. To that end, we are pleased to announce that German Casanova has agreed to become the Director, overseeing all activities. German is an industrial engineer who brings his talents of organization and accountability to PeruKidz. In addition, he is pursuing a BS in Bible Studies at the University of Latinamerica located in Costa Rica. Currently he is in his 5th year of studies. German points out that he is grounded in the Presbyterian tradition. We have known German and his family for more than 20 years, and we are so excited that he is becoming a member of our family.

Please join us in welcoming German Casanova to PeruKidz!

Meet the Team

  • Jack Meier

    PRESIDENT

  • Mimi Meier

    FOUNDER

  • Jay Scott

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • Claudia Scott

    ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR

  • Noemi Picón

    COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

  • Germán Casanova

    DIRECTOR LIMA-PERU

  • Vanessa Herrera

    TREASURER LIMA-PERU

  • Marianella de las Casas

    SECRETARY LIMA-PERU

  • IQUITOS-PERU

    Abigail Rengifo

    EVENTS COORDINATOR

    IQUITOS - PERU

Our Mission

Bringing hope through improving the living conditions of Perú’s poorest children and families. We accomplish this through outreach programs which address their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Our main areas of focus are nutrition, bedding, and proving children with Christmas gifts each year. You can learn more about each of these areas of focus here. We partner alongside local churches in Perú to bring hope and healing in Jesus’ name. Here are some of the local congregations that benefit from your generous support.

Pastors Jerry & Betty Orrego - Rimac

Pastors Juan & Juana Silva - S.J.L

Pastors Jorge & Esperanza Santamaria - Lima

Pastors Carlos & Jessica Monzon - Rimac

Vanessa Herrera & Mariella de Herrera - Perukidz Streets of Lima Ministry

Pastors Dante & Liliana Salazar - Flor de Amancaes/Rimac

Pastors Juan & Miriam Saavedra - Independencia

Pastors Jose & Jenny Saldarriaga - El Callao

Pastors Emeterio & Otilia Babilonia - Iquitos - Peru

Pastor Anibal Peralta Guevara - Iquitos - Peru

Pastors Ramiro & Mercedes Sajami - Iquitos - Peru

Pastors Hialmar & Dilcia Mendoza – Iquitos - Peru

Pastors  Ruth & Alvaro Rengifo – Iquitos - Peru