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March 29, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Readers of LifeSiteNews have donated over $41,000 to a unique pro-life project: a community of disabled children in Brazil, many of whom survived failed abortions.

And one man, Tonio Tavares de Mello, has adopted all of them. His apostolate, Comunidade Jesús Menino (Baby Jesus Community), was featured in the HUMAN Life movie.

In an exclusive video for LifeSite, Tavares thanked “all the benefactors who have sent their donations to Brazil” through LifeSite’s crowdfunding platform LifeFunder.

“You have helped us pay many overdue bills and afford many projects that we are supposed to carry out,” Tavares explained. “The help was very, very, very significant, indeed!”

The coronavirus shutdown and subsequent economic problems hurt the Baby Jesus Community.

“The coronavirus crisis has brought pain to the whole world, and not only financial pain, but also physical and psychological pain, and religious pain because people could not go to religious services or Mass,” Tavares previously told LifeSite.

The funds raised through LifeFunder allowed Tavares to pay medical bills for his 42 children. And now, one of his 2021 projects is “the construction and purchase of a new home for babies with disabilities,” said Tavares. “Through the LifeSiteNews website, you can help us give other children that same heart, that same love, that same life. So, thank you very much. Help us keep on leading initiatives to defend and welcome life.”

“You have contributed not only to this moment, but also to the beginning and the defense of life, which pulsates in Brazil and all over the world,” said Tavares. “Our mission ‘Jesus Menino’ [baby Jesus] is this: to defend life, to welcome life, and to take concrete actions for life in Brazil and worldwide. That is why we are the community ‘Jesus Menino.’”

In the new video for LifeSite, Tavares and some of his sons — Alex, Marco Aurélio, and Felipe — sing a song of thanksgiving: “He reigns over us, He is among us. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus! He reigns over us, He is among us. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!”

LifeSite has extended the LifeFunder for the Baby Jesus Community through Holy Week and Easter, in the hopes that our community of pro-life readers will give a final push to power Tavares’s life-saving work. LifeSite will continue to provide updates on the Baby Jesus Community and their pro-life work. 

Click HERE to learn more about the Baby Jesus Community and donate to them through LifeFunder.