Guatemala's 'angel of the garbage dump' dies in car crash

Published: 2007-01-25

GUATEMALA CITY (CNS) -- Hanley Denning, known in Guatemala as "the angel of the garbage dump" because she helped poor children escape garbage picking as a livelihood, died in a car crash in Guatemala. Five days after her Jan. 18 death at age 36, a documentary featuring Denning was nominated for an Oscar. Denning died from injuries suffered when the car she was in collided with a bus on a mountain road outside of Guatemala City. She was a native of Yarmouth, Maine. With help from a $10,000 grant from the Sisters of the Precious Blood in Dayton, Ohio, Denning founded Safe Passage in 1999, an educational reinforcement program for children whose parents take them daily to Guatemala City's garbage dump to look for recyclable articles that could be sold. On Jan. 23, "Recycled Life," a documentary in which Denning commented on the lives of garbage pickers was nominated for an Oscar in the category for best documentary short by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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