Feeding the Hungry During a Pandemic

WITH YOUR HELP . . .

In 2020 Sowing Opportunities delivered 12½ tons of groceries to the people in a remote village to sustain them during the Covid-19 pandemic and hurricanes/flooding. 

THANK YOU!

For additional information on how Sowing Opportunities delivered groceries after the two major hurricanes of November 2020, see Flood Relief and our newsletter, Feeding a Village, Bracing for the Next Storm (November 15, 2020)

Lety and family unload packages from grocery shopping for their hungry neighbors
Everyone pitches in to bring groceries to where there stored overnight for morning distribution
One of the 32 families in the village that has been helped thus far with a one-time two-week grocery supply for their family

 

On Mother’s Day – May 9, 2020 – thanks to generous donations, 8 hungry families without resources were able to have a one-time groceries delivery for two weeks.  This fact is accelerated during the coronavirus shutdown because people have lost their jobs, there is no cross-regional travel, grocery prices have increased, and public transportation has stopped.  It was a miracle to see these families receive food, especially since the next day, the shutdown became even stronger. The efforts of the people of Chajmaic, Guatemala towards their neighbors were remarkable.   Details are at this link.

In response to the Mother’s Day groceries two-week delivery to 8 hungry families, Sowing Opportunities received additional donations so that we had enough in funds to send to the remote village of Chajmaic to help another 9 hungry families on May 16, 2020, when transportation is shut down in Guatemala.  Details at this link. The total number of families served during this pandemic is 18.  In Judaism, 18 is a holy number.  This indicates that our gifts support life, and those lives are upheld and protected.  This is indeed a miracle.

In response to our email, we received $350 and people specifically asked to feed more hungry families in the village. We needed $550 to make a grocery run. We thought we could wait, but the Guatemalan President’s state-of-the-union address indicated that he plans to shut down the country from Friday at 5:00 p.m., as he has for the two prior weekends. However, this time, because of the increase in COVID-19 cases (which are, in large part, due to deportees arriving COVID-19 positive), instead of just for the weekend, he was considering shutting down the country for two weeks, starting Friday, May 29, 2020.

This was the miracle: As mentioned above, we had $350. Within two hours (May 25, 2020), we received an additional $745 after this request. The total is $1,095. This is exactly double what we needed for 8 families, so we intended to feed 16 families! The following day, funds were wired and groceries purchased in  Fray Bartolomé de las Casas.   Donations continued to come in for the next two days, so we had enough to begin preparing for the next group of families, after the two-week shut-down.

Our partner in Guatemala, Ricardo San José, shared these exciting stories: “On Friday, May 29th, there will be a real celebration of life. Entire families are eating delicious things, which perhaps went months, going without. Mothers can feed their young children. Fathers feel hope in their hearts. This is a celebration of life .

“Maybe for the people who have donated, it is something a little more normal, but for all these people, the help they are receiving is everything, and it comes in the midst of a global pandemic. Nobody in this world would believe that this was possible.

“I want to tell you that today we had a big surprise when people came to ask us for help. It was very moving. The need that exists in Chajmaic is very great, and of those families we took about 4 (of the 8 that we needed) since if we identified the real need, it would be incredible.”

Update June 1, 2020: Thanks to donations of $1,095, sent by 16 individuals within hours of our Memorial Day request, Sowing Opportunities was able to feed additional 17 families for two weeks or more in the remote village of Chajmaic, #Guatemala.  Therefore, 35 families are receiving #sustenance to keep them alive during this #pandemic.  And, we now have a foundation for community buy-in and developing a self-sustainability program when we are able to travel again.  The need is great.  We are grateful for your support.  Details: https://conta.cc/2Mf0NMb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Instagram post was posted July 6, 2020:
Life, #liberty and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable #humanrights. How can one have liberty, let alone happiness, without #basicnecessities? Help us deliver groceries to the people of the village of Chajmaic, Guatemala! 42 families helped to date! Read more: https://conta.cc/2ZFpLdJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This email was sent on July 19: The Covid pandemic is closing in on the people of Chajmaic, Guatemala.

Two people in a neighboring village (just over a mile away) have died of Covid.

The nearby municipality, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas is now effectively shut down,

but we can do one last grocery run.  https://conta.cc/30osMj7

 

This update was sent on July 29, 2020:

Since May, 69 Families in Chajmaic Have Received Nourishing Groceries – Nearly 1/3 of the Village of 250 Families

https://conta.cc/3g9q6wr

 

Sowing Opportunities delivered its 6th groceries delivery during the pandemic to Chajmaic, Guatemala on August 13, 2020. At this point, 77 of the 250 families – or, 1/3 of the village – of Chajmaic have received groceries. In addition, we visited and interviewed 80 inhabitants of the village, met with village and municipal leaders, and took water samples from the river to test for filtration. Details: https://conta.cc/34sTIlw

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional information about feeding the village is at this link.

WITH YOUR HELP . . .

In 2020 Sowing Opportunities delivered 12½ tons of groceries to the people in a remote village to sustain them during the Covid-19 pandemic and hurricanes/flooding. 

THANK YOU!

Sowing Opportunities’ 2020 work can be seen in this video: